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

Bird name: Red Crested Cotinga
Latin: Ampelion rubrocristatus
Other:
Family: Cotingidae • Cotingas
Range: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
Similar:

I saw these two Red-crested Cotingas on shrubs beside the road up to Yanacocha, at about 3000m altitude. They tend be found at this kind of altitude in the Andes.

The Red-crested Cotinga is easy to identify - a grey, pigeon-sized bird, with long, lank, rufous feathers at back of head, and bright red irises. The red crest is often not visible though when the bird is viewed from the front. One was eating a winged insect.


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

Bird name: Guayaquil Woodpecker
Latin: Campephilus gayaquilensis
Other:
Family: Picidae • Woodpeckers
Range: SW Colombia, Ecuador, NW Peru
Similar: Crimson-crested, Lineated, Powerful Woodpecker

The three Guayaquil Woodpeckers above were also seen on my first day, on the journey from the airport to Nanegal.

The male Guayaquil Woodpeckers (on left of trunk) has a badge on the cheek; the female, a broad white line running from the bill down the neck. The female has no black on crest, unlike Powerful and Lineated. The male has no white near bill, unlike Powerful.

The Guayaquil Woodpecker is classed as Near Threatened on IUCN 3.1 because of habitat loss.

Directly below, a female Guayaquil Woodpecker near Nanegal, NW Ecuador.


Directly below, a male Guayaquil Woodpecker in the Rio Silanche Reserve, Ecuador.
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Copyright: monacoeye • Santa Lucia, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Cloud Forest Pygmy Owl
Latin: Glaucidium nubicola
Other: Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl • Mochuelo ecuatoriano (Es)
Family: Strigidae • Owls
Range: Colombia and Ecuador
Similar: Andean Pygmy Owl

The guide I was with in Santa Lucia was convinced that the bird above was a rare Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl. On my first morning’s birding in Ecuador, no less. We had just left the Santa Lucia Lodge and were observing some of the regular warblers and tanagers when the guide homed in on a great commotion of birds in a couple of trees.

He became very excited, believing this to indicate the presence of an owl, and scanned the branches for some time trying to find the bird. Eventually he did locate the small Pygmy Owl, which was sitting calmly on a bough with warblers, tanagers and flycatchers all around, mobbing it.

On examination he believed it to be a Cloud-forest Pygmy Owl, which he had only previously heard once, and never seen. It’s a rare bird, classed Vulnerable on the IUCN 3.1 list, with an estimated population of only a few thousand individuals. It has been recorded in Pichincha.

But although I’m happy to defer to more learned opinion, the photo itself is unlikely to be conclusive proof, as the Andean Pygmy-Owl, Glaucidium jardinii, although scarce, is much more common with larger range, and looks very similar, with longer tail and more extensive pale spotting or barring on back, sides of chest and flanks. So unless an expert weighs in, the bird pictured could probably be either Cloud-Forest or Andean.

The Andean Pygmy-Owl is generally found above 2000m and the Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl below 2000m - the photo was taken at about 1900m altitude.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Pichincha, Ecuador • February 2011

Bird name: Pacific Hornero
Latin: Furnarius cinnamomeus
Other: Pale-legged Hornero (Furnarius leucopus)
Family: Furnariidae • Horneros, Ovenbirds, Spinetails
Range: Ecuador, NW Peru
Similar:

The Pacific Hornero was the first bird I photographed in Ecuador, from the taxi, near Nanegal in Pichincha. The taxi driver told me they were common and had entered the area with the roads a couple of decades ago. But this turned out to be the only individual I got a good view of during my stay.

The Pacific Hornero has recently been split from the Pale-Legged Hornero, which is found further east in South America. The Pacific Hornero is an attractive bird, with a pale yellow iris. Conspicuous and vocal.

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

Bird name: White Winged Tanager
Latin: Piranga leucoptera
Other: Piranga aliblanca (Es)
Family: Thraupidae • Tanagers - now Cardinalidae
Range: E Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
Similar:

This White-winged Tanager was one of the first birds I saw in Ecuador, in Nanegal.

The male White-winged Tanager is a red bird with two white wingbars on a dark wing. The female is yellow, also with two wingbars.More photos...