Copyright: monacoeye • Napo, Ecuador, Mar 2011 • Do not copy

Bird name: Hoatzin
Latin: Opisthocomus hoazin
Other: Stinkbird; Hoacín, chenchena, serere, shansho (Es); Jacu-cigano, cigana (Br)
Family: Opisthocomidae • Hoatzin
Range: Amazonia: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyanas
Similar:

The Hoatzin is a very unusual bird, whose taxonomic relationship to other birds remains unknown, although its DNA has been sequenced and is currently being studied. Its closest relatives have been thought to be variously seriemas, turacos or cuckoos, although conclusive proof is still lacking.

Amongst the hoatzin’s unusual characteristics are a bad smell which deters predators, the ability for chicks to swim underwater and climb up into their nests with clawed wings, a diet of leaves and fruit, and a variety of odd noises including grunts and hisses.

The hoatzin pictured above was relatively easy to see and find on Anaconda Island, in the upper Napo, living in a group that never strayed far from the edge of the swamp.

Many thanks to Tom for the photo below of the Hoatzin in flight, taken near Sacha Lodge.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • San Isidro, Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Andean Motmot
Latin: Momotus aequatorialis
Other: Highland Motmot, Blue-Crowned Motmot • Momotus momota aequatorialis and chlorolaemus • Momoto montañero (Es)
Family: Momotidae • Motmots
Range: Andes - north Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, to north Bolivia
Similar: Amazonian Motmot

Andean Motmot is the new name for the Highland Motmot seen here at San Isidro Lodge in the Ecuadorian Andes.

The Andean Motmot, or Highland Motmot, has an electric blue crown, black eye mask and greenish body.

Copyright: monacoeye • Silanche, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Pale Mandibled Aracari
Latin: Pteroglossus erythropygius
Other: Arasari Piquipálido (Es) - split from P. torquatus, Collared Aracari
Family: Ramphastidae • Toucans, Aracaris
Range: Western Ecuador
Similar: Stripe Billed Aracari

I had good views of several Pale Mandibled Aracaris, first at the Rio Silanche Reserve, from the observation tower and in the forest, and then again at El Monte Lodge in Mindo.

The Pale Mandibled Aracari, which is split from the Collared Aracari complex, is best identified by its light lower bill, and one black band on the yellow belly with a smudge or dot on the chest.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Paz de las Aves, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Crimson Rumped Toucanet
Latin: Aulacorhynchus haematopygus
Other: Tucánete Lomirrojo (Es)
Family: Ramphastidae • Toucans, Toucanets
Range: W Venezuela, Colombia, E Ecuador
Similar: Chestnut-tipped Toucanet

Crimson Rumped Toucanets seemed to be one of the most easily seen of the toucan family in Pichincha, northwest Ecuador. First seen at Santa Lucia, then visiting feeders at Paz de las Aves.

Crimson Rumped Toucanets are mostly green, with red bill, rump and tail tip. Base of bill is white.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Napo, Ecuador, Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Red Headed Barbet
Latin: Eubucco bourcierii
Other: Barbudo Cabecirrojo (Es)
Family: Capitonidae • New World Barbets
Range: Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, W Venezuela, Ecuador, N Peru
Similar:

Record shots of the Red-headed Barbet, seen here on a river island in the Upper Napo region.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Napo, Ecuador, Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Gilded Barbet
Latin: Capito auratus
Other: Barbudo Filigrana (Es)
Family: Capitonidae • New World Barbets
Range: N,W Amazonia: E Colombia, Venezuela, E Ecuador, Peru, NW Brazil
Similar:

Record shots of a female Gilded Barbet, seen here on a river island in the Upper Napo region. The male lacks the black stripes on its underparts.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Napo, Ecuador, Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Scarlet Crowned Barbet
Latin: Capito aurovirens
Other: Barbudo Coronirrojo (Es)
Family: Capitonidae • New World Barbets
Range: W Amazonia: NW Brazil, S Colombia, E Ecuador, N Peru
Similar: Gilded Barbet

Record shots of a pair of Scarlet-crowned Barbets, seen here on a river island in the Upper Napo region.

The male Scarlet-crowned Barbet, pictured above, has a red crown. The female, below, has a white crown. Both have an orange chest.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Mindo, Ecuador, Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Choco Toucan
Latin: Ramphastos brevis
Other: Tucán del Chocó (Es)
Family: Ramphastidae • Toucans
Range: Northwest Colombia to southwest Ecuador
Similar: Chestnut-mandibled Toucan

I was pleased to see these Choco Toucans in Mindo. They look similar to the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, although the latter has a brown, not black, lower mandible.More photos...

Copyright: TC/monacoeye • Sacha Lodge, Ecuador, Oct 2010 • Do not copy

Bird name: Many Banded Aracari
Latin: Pteroglossus pluricinctus
Other: Arasari bifajeado (Es) • Araçari-de-cinta-dupla (Br)
Family: Ramphastidae • Toucans, Aracaris
Range: NW Amazonia including E Ecuador
Similar:

Many thanks to Tom for adding his photos of the Many-Banded Aracari to this collection. On my recent visit to Ecuador, I didn’t venture very deep into Amazonia, so missed this beautiful aracari. I believe he saw it at Sacha Lodge in the Lower Napo. The only Ecuadorian aracari with two bands.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • San Isidro, Ecuador, Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: White Throated Toucanet
Latin: Aulacorhynchus albivitta
Other: Tucán (Es) • split from Aulacorhynchus prasinus, Emerald Toucanet
Family: Ramphastidae • Toucans, Toucanets
Range: E, C Colombia, W Venezuela, E Ecuador
Similar: Chestnut-tipped Toucanet, Black-throated Toucanet

The guide at San Isidro Lodge called this an Emerald Toucanet, but the complex has now been split and this bird with a white, not blue, throat is now called the White-throated Toucanet by the IOC. I believe the other prasinus split is called the Black-throated Toucanet, which, as its name suggests, has a dark throat.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • San Isidro, Ecuador, Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Black Billed Mountain Toucan
Latin: Andigena nigrirostris
Other: Tucán Andino Piquinegro (Es)
Family: Ramphastidae • Toucans
Range: W Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, N Peru
Similar:

I was very pleased to see this beautiful Black-billed Mountain Toucan on the road from San Isidro to Tena. I had come very close to one at the Guacamayos Reserve a few days earlier, after following its call for an hour, but had been unable to see it properly because of the thick fog. Later with Phototoshop I revealed some colour, but at the time all I could see was white.

Prior to that, I had missed Grey-breasted Mountain Toucan at Guango, which others had seen just behind the lodge, so I was pleased to break a losing streak.

The Black-billed Mountain Toucan has a white throat and pale blue underparts.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Santa Lucia, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Plate Billed Mountain Toucan
Latin: Andigena laminirostris
Other: Tucán Andino Piquilaminado (Es)
Family: Ramphastidae • Toucans
Range: Southwest Colombia to south Ecuador
Similar:

The Plate-billed Mountain Toucan is an easy bird to identify with a characteristic buff rectangular plate on its bill. A beautiful bird with many colours, seen on several occasions, though usually at some distance, at the Santa Lucia reserve, and then again near Bellavista on the Ecoruta in northwest Ecuador.

The bird pictured may well be a juvenile.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Upper Napo, Ecuador, Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Black Mandibled Toucan
Latin: Ramphastos ambiguus
Other: Tucán mandíbula negra (Es)
Family: Ramphastidae • Toucans
Range: W Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador to C Peru
Similar:

Although a terrible photo, this must be a Black-Mandibled Toucan, as it’s the only toucan in Ecuador east of the Andes with a yellow bib.

In Ecuador, a good sighting - the Upper Napo is one of only two areas where this bird can be found.

Copyright: TC/monacoeye • Paz de las Aves, Ecuador, Oct 2010 • Do not copy

Bird name: Giant Antpitta
Latin: Grallaria gigantica
Other: Gralaria gigante
Family: Grallariidae • Antpittas
Range: Southwest Colombia, north Ecuador
Similar:

Angel Paz started the whole Antpitta craze several years ago by feeding worms to Maria the Giant Antpitta and then bringing birders along to see her.

Unfortunately when I visited his ranch in March 2011, Maria had not been seen for three months, and the assumption was that she must have been eaten.

Angel seemed understandably a little preoccupied by this state affairs - especially as Maria had been bringing in busloads of tourists - but he was working hard on finding replacements: we managed to see a Yellow-breasted and a Moustached Antpitta as well as some other nice birds.

Mid-morning we sat down to a breakfast of coffee and delicious cheese empanadas - one of the culinary highlights of my trip to Ecuador - cooked by his wife.

Many thanks to Tom for these photos of Maria taken in October 2010, just two months before her mysterious disappearance.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • San Isidro, Ecuador, Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: White Bellied Antpitta
Latin: Grallaria hypoleuca
Other: Gralaria ventriblanca (Es)
Family: Grallariidae • Antpittas
Range: Colombia, Ecuador, northern Peru
Similar:

San Isidro Lodge on the eastern slope of the Ecuadorian Andes is a good place to see the White-bellied Antpitta, which is fed by worms on some mornings.

In the woods below the lodge, we heard many Antpittas calling, but never saw one. Once one approached to a few feet away, and then changed its call, but I was still unable to see it…

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Paz de las Aves, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy

Bird name: Yellow Breasted Antpitta
Latin: Grallaria flavotincta
Other: Gralaria pechiamarillenta (Es)
Family: Grallariidae • Antpittas
Range: Colombia to northwest Ecuador
Similar:

A very nice Yellow-breasted Antpitta, which came to feed on worms at the Paz de las Aves ranch near Mindo.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Paz de las Aves, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy

Bird name: Moustached Antpitta
Latin: Grallaria alleni
Other: Gralaria bigotuda (Es)
Family: Grallariidae • Antpittas
Range: Southwest Colombia, north Ecuador
Similar:

The only problem with photographing Antpittas at Paz de las Aves was that my camera wasn’t quite up to the job of taking photos in the dark forest without flash.

Still it was great to see a Moustached Antpitta, birds which I’m told rarely respond to playback.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Santa Lucia, Ecuador • Feb 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Violet Tailed Sylph
Latin: Aglaiocercus coelestis
Other: Silfo colivioleta (Es)
Family: Trochilidae • Hummingbirds
Range: Colombia, Ecuador
Similar: Long-tailed Sylph

The male (above) Violet-tailed Sylph has this fabulous long violet tail. Guides love to point them out. Look a Violet-tailed Sylph! Thanks, even I managed to recognise that one… Fortunately where I saw them - Santa Lucia, Milpe, Mindo - there appeared to be no Long-tailed Sylphs to confuse the issue (they have green-blue tails). Male Violet-tailed Sylphs (only in NW ?) have purple bibs.

Females (below) look quite different: no long tail, white chest, peach-coloured belly, speckled throat, but same short bill. Some males have shorter tails - there’s an example in more photos.

Violet-tailed Sylphs were quite abundant at feeders in mountainous, forested areas of northwest Ecuador, and also often seen in the forest.

Directly below, a female Violet-tailed Sylph in northwest Ecuador.


Below, a male Violet-tailed Sylph showing purple bib.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Zaandvoort, Holland, Feb 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: European Herring Gull
Latin: Larus argentatus
Other: Goéland argenté (Fr) • Gaviota argéntea (Es) • Gabbiano reale nordico (It) • Silbermöwe (De) • Gaivota-prateada, gaivota-argêntea (Pt) • Zilvermeeuw (Nl) • Gråtrut (Sv)
Family: Laridae • Gulls
Range: NW Europe coast: Iceland, GB, Eire, Scandinavia, Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium
Similar: Yellow-legged Gull

These European Herring Gulls were seen as the winter sun was setting on the seaside town of Zaandvoort in Holland, during a stopover between flights. The Herring Gull is the most common gull in this area and in the UK.

Herring Gulls reach adult plumage (pictured above) after four years - white head and body, grey wings with black near tip and white at very tip, yellow bill with red spot, light yellow irises, pinkish legs. Juveniles have mottled dark brown plumage, with black bills and eyes. The lighter and yellower the bill, the closer the bird is to adulthood.

Below, sub-adult European Herring Gulls, February, Holland.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Yanacocha, Ecuador • Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Sword Billed Hummingbird
Latin: Ensifera ensifera
Other: Colibri picoespada (Es)
Family: Trochilidae • Hummingbirds
Range: W Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, NE Bolivia
Similar:

There can be no mistaking the Sword-billed Hummingbird with its extraordinary 10 cm bill. Although generally a difficult bird to see it was easily viewed at the last feeders on the Yanacocha trail (3500m altitude), and was an occasional visitor to the Guango Lodge feeders when I visited.

Its bill is adapted to feed on flowers with long corollas such as the those of the passionfruit Passiflora mixta.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Silanche, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Purple Throated Fruitcrow
Latin: Querula purpurata
Other: Querula gorgimorada (Es)
Family: Cotingidae • Cotingas, Manakins, Fruitcrows
Range: Southern Nicaragua to Amazonia. Inc. Panama, Ecuador.
Similar:

Above a male Purple-throated Fruitcrow, extending the purple ruff on its neck after calling, in the Rio Silanche Reserve in northwest Ecuador. Females are all black (see “more photos”), only males have the purple throat. Not in the crow family, but related to Cotingas. More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Paz de las Aves, Ecuador • Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: White Throated Quail Dove
Latin: Geotrygon frenata
Other: Paloma Perdiz Goliblanca (Es)
Family: Columbidae • Pigeons, Doves
Range: W Colombia, Ecuador to NW Argentina
Similar:

White-throated Quail Doves are not that uncommon, but difficult to see. The first I saw was perched near the ground in dark forest in Santa Lucia, beside a trail. The second was one of a pair walking along the ground in the forest at Paz de las Aves near Mindo.

The White Throated Quail Dove has bright yellow irises, with a dark line on face separating top and bottom halves. Its neck feathers seem to produce a kind of spiral effect.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Panama, May 2010 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Grey Breasted Wood Wren
Latin: Henicorhina leucophrys
Other: Gray Breasted Wood Wren (US) • Sotterey Montes Pechigris (Es)
Family: Troglodytidae • Wrens
Range: Mexico to northern Bolivia
Similar: White-breasted Wood-wren

There were several Grey-breasted Wood Wrens in this location in Chiriqui, Panama, and with some patience, we eventually coaxed them out of the gloom of the canopy, for long enough to be visible enough for a photo. As with other wrens, they have an attractive clear song.

The Grey-breasted Wood Wren is similar to the White-breasted Wood Wren, with dark cap and prominent white stripe above eye. The main difference is a grey chest instead of a white chest.

Also seen and heard in NW Ecuador.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Yanacocha, Ecuador • Mar 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Ornate Flycatcher
Latin: Myiotriccus ornatus
Other: Mosquerito Adomado (Es)
Family: Tyrannidae • Tyrant Flycatchers
Range: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Similar: Tody Flycatchers

The Ornate Flycatcher was the first flycatcher I photographed in Ecuador, as I walked up the steep slope to the Santa Lucia Reserve. Then seen again in the Milpe Reserve and near Mindo Lindo.

The Ornate Flycatcher is a small bird, quite easily seen on trails, as it will stay still for some time, and is identifiable by its white lores and yellow rump.
More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Paz de las Aves, Ecuador • Feb 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Dark Backed Wood Quail
Latin: Odontophorus melanonotus
Other: Corcovado dorsioscuro (Es)
Family: Odontophoridae • New World Quail
Range: SW Colombia, NW Ecuador
Similar:

These beautiful Dark-backed Wood-quail came to feed on worms at the Paz de las Aves ranch in Mindo. It has the simplest pattern of the Andean wood-quails, brown with a rufous orange chest.

More photos...