SOUTHERN ECUADOR HUMMINGBIRD & TANAGER EXTRAVAGANZA AUGUST 26–SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 Sword-billed Hummingbird ©Jon Dunn LEADER : PAUL GREENFIELD LIST COMPILED BY : PAUL GREENFIELD VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS , INC . 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE , SUITE 1003 AUSTIN , TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD .COM SOUTHERN ECUADOR HUMMINGBIRD & TANAGER EXTRAVAGANZA August 26–September 6, 2018 By Paul J. Greenfield Violet-tailed Sylph © Jon Dunn It’s kind of strange, but often, as one of our Ecuador birding ‘adventures’ nears to an end, for some crazy reason, Albert Einstein often seems to come to mind. I guess it may have something to do with the feeling that I can sense that time does not pass at the same rate for everyone , or maybe that the passing of time, and all that fits within specific moments, can be drawn out and even almost ‘never-ending’ at one instance or ‘here and gone-in-a- flash’ in the next. How else can one explain that the first day of this year’s Hummingbird & Tanager Extravaganza tour felt like a weeklong epic journey that took us through coastal rice fields and marshland at about sea level in the early morning, humid tropical forest and edge at midmorning, montane cloudforest by noon, frigid tundra-like páramo grassland and shrubbery in the afternoon, to finally end up in stunted elfin woodland by the late afternoon…was that really just a few hours? Was it really possible to get our blood flowing after breakfast with Horned Screamers, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Wood Storks, Cocoi and Little Blue herons, Black-crowned Night-Herons, White Ibises, Roseate Spoonbills, Savanna Hawks, Snail Kites, Black- Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 Southern Ecuador Hummingbird & Tanager Extravaganza, 2018 necked Stilts, Wattled Jacanas, Wilson’s Phalaropes, Ringed Kingfisher, Crested Caracara, Pacific Parrotlet, Red-masked Parakeet, Pacific Hornero, Vermilion Flycatcher, Masked Water-Tyrant, Tropical Gnatcatchers, and Yellow-rumped Cacique; have the recently split Coopman’s Elaenia, Black-crowned Tityra, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Lemon-rumped, Blue-gray, Palm, Golden-naped, and Golden tanagers , Yellow-tufted Dacnis , and Yellow-tailed Oriole as just some of our midday entertainment as we began to climb the west slope of the Andes and reach a chilling 12,000 plus feet above sea level, in the thin air of the páramo zone at El Cajas National Park where Ecuadorian Hillstar, Blue-mantled Thornbill , the local range-restricted endemic Violet-throated Metaltail , Stout-billed and Chestnut-winged cinclodes, Turquoise Jay, the very Violet-throated Metaltail ©Pam Higgenbotham localized Tit-like Dacnis , and Plumbeous Sierra-Finch closed out the day’s activities as we pulled into our beautiful Hostería Dos Chorreras? In Ecuador, that is a distinct possibility…and that was our first day. The following morning, a few of us took advantage of a chilly early morning walk, where we finally came across a foraging Glowing Puffleg and a Rainbow Starfrontlet , pairs of Mouse-colored Thistletails, and Variable Hawks among other species. After breakfast and some Andean Teals and Andean Gulls, we departed downslope to Llaviucu Lake, part of El Caja National Park, spotting Purple-throated Sunangel and a pair of Azara’s Spinetails along the entrance road, and (for some) a Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan near the entrance gate. Hummingbirds and mixed flocks were few and far between that sunny morning, although we enjoyed great views of a wonderful foraging male Great Sapphirewing , and Eve located a Mountain Velvetbreast . Finally, a mixed foraging flock showed up along with 3 Masked Trogons, Pearled Treerunner, White-banded Tyrannulet, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 Southern Ecuador Hummingbird & Tanager Extravaganza, 2018 Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant, Turquoise Jays, Spectacled Whitestarts, Black and Masked flowerpiercers, and Plain-colored Seedeaters . Two unexpected White-cheeked Pintails, Yellow-billed Pintails, Andean (Ruddy) Ducks, and Slate-colored Coots adorned the still waters of Llaviucu. We took longer than expected to circle the lake, so our drive to Zamora turned out to be long and unfortunately rather uneventful. The following morning brought an onslaught of activity—breakfast at Copalinga Lodge, complete with a live show! Green and Gray-chinned hermits, Sparkling Violetear, Violet- fronted Brilliant, showy Fork-tailed Woodnymphs, Many-spotted Hummingbird, Glittering-throated Emerald , and Golden-tailed Sapphire made repeated entrances at the nectar feeders while a White-tipped Sicklebill showed up at some Heliconia flowers! Plantain feeders were jumping too. Speckled Chachalacas; Sickle-winged Guans; Red- headed Barbets; White-lined, Silver-beaked, Golden-eared, Green-and-gold, and Golden tanagers; Green Honeycreeper; Bananaquit; Buff-throated Saltator; and Thick-billed and Orange-bellied euphonias were among the entertainers…and so were a really hungry South American Coati and a marauding troop of White-fronted Capuchin Monkeys! Green-and-gold Tanager ©Paul J. Greenfield We headed out along the entrance road to the Bombuscaro sector of Podocarpus National Park and walked a short stretch up its entrance trail; one of the first species we encountered was a fabulous male Andean Cock-of-the-rock! Along the park trail we called in a Coppery-chested Jacamar. Roadside birding also produced some goodies… including Ash-browed Spinetail; Inca Jays; Spotted, Blue-necked, Paradise, and Guira tanagers; Blue Dacnis; and Crested and Russet-backed oropendolas. Back at the lodge a flock of White-necked (breasted) Parakeets came in to perch briefly, and other species Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 4 Southern Ecuador Hummingbird & Tanager Extravaganza, 2018 showed themselves: Olivaceous Woodcreeper and Black-billed and White-necked thrushes among them. In the afternoon, we headed on foot to an upper trail to see the scarce Gray Tinamou at a blind and corn feeder. Our second day in the Zamora area took us first—after breakfast and an obliging pair of Band-bellied Owls, plus a Buff-tailed Sicklebill at the Heliconia patch near the parking lot—along the narrow ‘Las Fragancias’ side road. A pair of Cliff Flycatchers greeted us at the bridge, and we continued a short way along the road, where we disembarked from our van and began a slow stroll downslope in search of mixed foraging flocks; activity was slow, I must admit, but we stuck to our guns (Juan eventually took a few of our group back to the lodge as the rest continued on our quest). Our hope was to locate a few more new tanager species, but aside from some pretty cool repeats (including Paradise, Golden-eared, and Spotted tanagers), we only ‘added’ a pair of Red-billed Parrots in flight, a male Lined Antshrike, Montane Foliage-gleaner, a Black-billed Treehunter, a cool pair of Lemon-browed Flycatchers, Masked Tityra, and Yellow-throated Chlorospingus. Back at the lodge, we spent midday relaxing and leisurely birding around the grounds: Eve, from her hammock, spotted a male Wire-crested Thorntail and Golden-headed Manakin! A ‘sweet’ Violet- headed Hummingbird hung out at flowering Verbena shrubs, and a pair of Common Tody-Flycatchers bounced around in the trees nearby. In the afternoon we returned to the Bombuscaro entrance road, spotting a statuesque Fasciated Tiger-Heron on a rocky stream, an Andean Solitaire, a lovely pair of Buff-rumped Warblers, one (very early arrival) Canada Warbler, Bay-headed Tanager , Black-faced Dacnis , Yellow-browed Sparrow, and Orange-billed Sparrow to add to our sightings. We departed from Copalinga Lodge after breakfast—but not after another brief sighting of the Band-bellied Owl (!) along with chachalacas, guans, tanagers, and the “regular gang of favorites” at the plantain feeders—and first did a little birding in the Zamora area in hopes of locating more tanagers. We stopped along a nearby river, alongside a Tilapia pond, where three Striated Herons, a pair of Southern Lapwings (in noisy flight), an Amazon Kingfisher, a Yellow-headed Caracara, Slaty-capped and Boat-billed flycatchers, White-banded Swallows, Chestnut-bellied Seedeater, Chestnut-bellied Seed- Finch, and a pair of Yellow-rumped Caciques (the eastern race) gave us a showing. We then continued up-slope towards the city of Loja, stopping on the way at an impressive waterfall, where two White-capped Dippers finally showed up—great! Just south of Loja we turned off to briefly explore the Cajanuma Entrance to the Podocarpus National Park, driving up to the headquarters to then bird a downslope trajectory on foot. Buff-winged Starfrontlet, Tyrian Metaltail , Band-tailed Pigeons, Superciliaried Hemispingus Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager, and Yellow-breasted Brushfinch were among the new species we encountered. We continued south and took a lunch break at a quiet park in Vilcabamba, a town that is renowned for its many centenarian residents, where we encountered about five Long-tailed Mockingbirds, Saffron Finches, and a few additional species. When we finally arrived at our destination, Casa Simpson, in the Tapichalaca Reserve, their nectar feeders were hyperactive, and as we waited for our luggage to be brought up to the lodge we enjoyed our first looks at Amethyst-throated Sunangels, a pair of Flame-throated Sunangels, Speckled Hummingbird, a male Long-tailed Sylph (what a tail!) , a sharply clad Collared Inca, and a hoard of Chestnut-breasted Coronets. Diego, the reserve’s local guide, drew our attention to a family of the rare and globally threatened Bearded Guan…a nice way to close out the day. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 Southern Ecuador Hummingbird & Tanager Extravaganza, 2018 Amethyst-throated Sunangel © John Sevenair We headed out early the following morning; part of our group followed Diego, on an antpitta ‘safari,’ while the rest of us took another sector of the same trail—we would eventually meet up in the middle somewhere for a very special prize… the Jocotoco Antpitta. Diego’s team arrived, having seen Chestnut-naped, Undulated, and Slate- crowned antpittas, Barred Fruiteater, Black-capped Tyrannulet, and Plain-tailed Wren.