Ecuador Western: Chocó Specialities 18th September to 2nd October 2018 (15 days) Trip Report Rufous-crowned Gnatpitta by Dušan Brinkhuizen Trip report compiled by Tour Leader: Dušan Brinkhuizen Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Ecuador Trip Report – RBL Ecuador – Western: Chocó Specialities 2018 2 Top ten birds as voted for by participants: 1. Rufous-crowned Gnatpitta 6. Sapayoa 2. Choco Poorwill 7. Lita Woodpecker 3. Long-wattled Umbrellabird 8. Five-colored Barbet 4. Giant Antpitta 9. Cloud-forest Pygmy Owl 5. Berlepsch’s Tinamou 10. Dark-backed Wood Quail ___________________________________________________________________________________ Tour Summary The Chocó, an eco-region and biodiversity hotspot ranging from the Pacific coast of Colombia south to Ecuador supports the largest number of range-restricted birds of any Endemic Bird Area in the Americas, with 62 unique species. Our tour had been carefully designed to target as many Chocó endemics as possible, especially the tricky and remote lowland species. Sadly, the sites we visited were also the final accessible pristine lowland forests in the Esmeraldas province. In addition to seeing tonnes of fantastic birds and other wildlife, our tour directly supported the conservation of various private reserves in this critically threatened region. Highlights included Rufous-crowned Gnatpitta, Berlepsch’s Tinamou, Sapayoa, Long-wattled Umbrellabird, Black Solitaire, Streak-chested, Chestnut-crowned, Yellow-breasted, Ochre-breasted and Giant Antpittas, Orange-breasted, Barred and Scaled Fruiteaters, Cloud-forest Pygmy Owl, Black-and-chestnut Eagle, Beautiful Jay, Pacific Tuftedcheek, Rufous-fronted and Dark-backed Wood Quails, Scarlet-breasted Dacnis, Indigo Flowerpiercer, Pacific Flatbill, Lanceolated Monklet, Glistening-green, Blue-whiskered, Scarlet-and-white, Moss-backed, Golden- chested and Lemon-spectacled Tanagers, Choco Tapaculo, Black-tipped Cotinga, Lita and Choco Woodpeckers, Stub-tailed, Ocellated, Bicolored, Spotted and Zeledon’s Antbirds, Colombian and Choco Screech Owls, Choco Poorwill, Ecuadorian Rail, Dagua Thrush, Five-colored Barbet and – on top of all of this – a Chocoan Bushmaster! ___________________________________________________ The Tour in Detail Our Western Ecuador – Chocó Specialities tour commenced north-west of the capital, Quito, with us visiting a few birding sites in the Pichincha province in search of rare and localised Chocó endemics. We started the journey along the higher flanks of the Pichincha volcano at c. 3,600m elevation, where we visited the well- known Yanacocha reserve. The bird feeders near the restaurant were fantastic, with Andean Guan, Black- chested and Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanagers, Masked and Glossy Flowerpiercers, Great Thrush, and Yellow- breasted and Grey-browed Brushfinches – all close-up and only a couple of feet away from us! There were also many Shining Sunbeam by Chrissy Freestone species of hummingbirds to enjoy, including Buff-winged Starfrontlet, Shining Sunbeam, Great Sapphirewing, Tyrian Metaltail and Sapphire-vented Puffleg. The amazing Sword-billed Hummingbird was an absolute stunner, with its extraordinarily long bill! The Inca trail was a nice walk, with a couple of Carunculated Caracaras in flight and a fairly cooperative Yellow- billed Cacique hidden in the bamboo – a rather rare species for the area. At the far feeders, we got the target Golden-breasted Puffleg with ease, and a party of Rufous Wrens was a nice bonus here. A really Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Ecuador Trip Report – RBL Ecuador – Western: Chocó Specialities 2018 3 nice mixed-species flock produced eye-level views of Hooded Mountain Tanager, Grass-green Tanager, Cinereous and Blue-backed Conebills, Superciliaried Hemispingus, White-banded and White-throated Tyrannulets, and Spectacled Whitestart. A male Barred Fruiteater only showed itself briefly in a bush at the edge of a steep slope. After a delicious and locally cooked lunch at Café Zamarito, we descended into the subtropics via the old Nono-Mindo road. A couple of Red-crested Cotingas were scoped nicely, and a little further down the road we flushed a massive raptor. The bird perched for a couple of minutes across a small valley, and fairly soon we realised it was an immature Black- and-chestnut Eagle. A mega! It flew off fairly soon, but luckily everybody got on the eagle in time, and we also got some record shots. An obliging White-capped Dipper was spotted foraging along the Alambi River. Another cracker for the afternoon was a loud-calling Beautiful Jay – it took a little while before we all got to see the bird, but eventually this rare Chocó endemic popped out fully in the open! After arrival at the Las Gralarias Guesthouse, we were soon greeted by the amazing tanagers at the banana feeders. Golden, Blue-capped and Black-chinned Mountain Tanagers showed up, but also a Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager by stunning Toucan Barbet, which surely stole the show! A late Chrissy Freestone afternoon search for Giant Antpitta along the forest trails did not get us the Antpitta, but a Tyrannine Woodcreeper and a male Golden-headed Quetzal were nice sightings. The icing on the cake for the day was a sublime Colombian Screech Owl that we watched at close-range at dusk! The following morning, we visited Refugio Paz de las Aves, also known as “Paz de las Antpittas”. At dawn, we met Angel Paz, a famed birder and our local guide, “the antpitta whisperer”. We had a superb start with a Scaled Fruiteater, a scarce species that we scoped in a tree above our heads. We could also hear the loud calls of Andean Cock-of-the-rocks, and once we got down to the lek site it was an ongoing cock-of- the-rock bonanza! For about an hour, we enjoyed the spectacle with many males doing their courtship display at close range. Our next stop was at a quarry, where we saw three Lyre-tailed Nightjars at their day- roost. A little further up the road, we met Rodrigo, the brother of Angel, and he showed us a family group of the scarce Dark-backed Wood Quail. We watched this Chocó endemic at close range when Rodrigo suddenly said: “Tengo Maria”. At the same spot, a couple of seconds later, a fantastic Giant Antpitta showed up, the Holy Grail of Refugio Paz de las Aves! The brothers hadn’t seen it for a couple of weeks, so we were certainly very lucky with this amazing sighting. The massive antpitta posed at a small rocky stream, and the Colombian Screech Owl by Dušan Brinkhuizen extended views we got of “Maria” were just Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Ecuador Trip Report – RBL Ecuador – Western: Chocó Specialities 2018 4 outstanding. Very pleased, we continued our quest for more antpittas, and at the end of the road we went back into the forest. Here we saw both Chestnut-crowned and Yellow-breasted Antpittas, with stunning views of both – and the latter being another difficult Chocó endemic in the bag! Plate-billed Mountain Toucan and Golden-headed Quetzal at a fruiting tree were a very nice treat as well. Along another forest trail, we watched two Ochre- breasted Antpittas for a prolonged time at close-range. The deck feeders at Angel Paz’s restaurant were great, and while we enjoyed a delicious “bolon de verde”, we got cracking views of both Red-headed and Toucan Barbets, Golden, Flame-faced, Golden-naped, Blue- winged and Black-chinned Mountain Tanagers and a stunning Crimson-mantled Woodpecker. It was very hard to leave this amazing place, but lunch was scheduled at Las Gralarias, even though we weren’t that hungry anymore! During lunch, we quickly left the table to twitch a Gorgeted Sunangel at the feeders – a funny and memorable sighting, and another Chocó endemic added to the list. We birded the Bellavista Cloud Forest reserve in the afternoon in the hope for the rare Tanager Giant Antpitta by Dušan Brinkhuizen Finch but, unfortunately, we were unable to find it. We did get a couple of new birds moving along with mixed-species flocks, but the incoming fog made it challenging to get good views. A huge Giant Earthworm crossing the road was awesome, and a Plate-billed Mountain Toucan perched nearby certainly seemed interested in eating it! At a dense bamboo patch, we successfully targeted a pair of Plain-tailed Wrens – what a beautiful duet song these wrens make! A shy Wattled Guan briefly perched in a tree next to the vehicle but, unfortunately, only a few of us got to see it. The next day we added an exciting “twitch” to our itinerary because of the recent sighting of a very rare bird: Rufous-crowned Antpitta, also known as Pittasoma or “Gnatpitta”. This near-mythical Chocó lowland endemic had been observed a few days earlier, and the local birders had been successful in attracting it with insects. We arrived at the Mashpi Shungo reserve after an early departure and hiked up a zigzag forest trail to where the male had recently been seen. It took a while, but eventually it was heard by Danilo, our local guide. It was calling all the way down a forest gap, but there was no doubt it was the bird nicknamed “Shungito”. We walked down the trail, positioned ourselves carefully and waited patiently for it to show up. It took about 10 minutes, but Danilo managed to lure it closer to us and soon we all got our bins on the cracking bird – a secretive ground-dweller reminiscent to an Old World pitta (Pittidae) but in fact most closely Yellow-breasted Antpitta by Chrissy Freestone related to the gnateaters (Conopophagidae), and now Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to Ecuador Trip Report – RBL Ecuador – Western: Chocó Specialities 2018 5 placed in that family. White-tailed Trogons and a shy Northern Schiffornis were other species that we got along the trail, but since we had a full day schedule ahead, we soon went out of the forest again.