Copyright: monacoeye • All rights reserved • Ecoruta, Ecuador, March 2011

Bird name: White Winged Brush Finch
Latin: Atlapetes leucopterus
Other: Matorralero aliblanco (Es)
Family: Emberizidae • Brush Finches
Range: Ecuador, Peru
Similar: Pale-naped Brush Finch, Tricolored Brush Finch

I saw the White-winged Brush Finch on a couple of occasions, both in the same general region northwest of Quito, once on the Ecoruta and once at Angel Paz’s reserve. Both times there was a Crimson-mantled Woodpecker nearby. Ridgely places White-winged Brush Finch at between 1600 and 2600m on the western slope in Ecuador.

The White-winged Brush Finch has whitish underparts, grey upperparts with prominent white wing bar, dark head, rufous head stripe and dark malar stripe, though there are various subspecies, some much whiter, especially in the south.

Below, White-winged Brush Finch, Ecoruta, March, 2011.
More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • All rights reserved • Ecuador • 2011

Bird name: Metallic Green Tanager
Latin: Tangara labradorides
Other: Tangara verdimetallica (Es)
Family: Thraupidae • Tanagers
Range: Colombia, Ecuador, …
Similar:

Metallic-green Tanager was another frequently glimpsed tanager, hard to photograph. Found mid-altitude in the northwest of Ecuador.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • All rights reserved • Ecuador, March.

Bird name: Golden Tanager
Latin: Tangara arthus
Other: Tángara dorada (Es)
Family: Thraupidae • Tanagers
Range: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
Similar: Blackburnian Warbler (if glimpsed)

The Golden Tanager is not uncommon in Ecuador in mid-altitude montane habitats. Seen in most locations, usually at least one in a mixed flock. Very easy to see - a bright light in cloud forest canopy. But Golden Tanagers are small and fast moving, and often stick to tree tops, so getting a good photo was not easy. Unmistakeable markings - usually the only other possibility for an orange flash is Blackburnian Warbler (which has a black head)

Below, Golden Tanager in Mindo, Ecuador.
More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • All rights reserved • Ecuador, March

Bird name: Blue Winged Mountain Tanager
Latin: Anisognathus somptuosus
Other: Tángara primavera, cachaquito primavera, tangara montana aliazul (Es)
Family: Thraupidae • Tanagers
Range: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
Similar: Black-chinned Mountain-tanager

Blue-winged Mountain Tanagers could be seen at various places near Mindo, as well at San Isidro Lodge.

Blue-winged Mountain Tanagers have more blue on wings than Black-chinned Mountain-tanagers and have black backs, vs olive shoulders for the latter. They have a large yellow stripe on their head.

Below, Blue-winged Mountain-tanager, Mindo.
More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • All rights reserved • Ecuador, March

Bird name: Black Chinned Mountain Tanager
Latin: Anisognathus notabilis
Other: tangara montana barbinegra (Es)
Family: Thraupidae • Tanagers
Range: Colombia, Ecuador
Similar: Blue-winged Mountain-tanager

Black-chinned Mountain-tanagers could be seen alongside Blue-winged Mountain-tanagers at the Paz de las Aves feeders.

Black-chinned Mountain-tanagers have less blue on the wing than Blue-winged, more black below the chin and olive top of back vs black back for Blue-winged.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Mindo Lindo, Ecuador, February • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Velvet Purple Coronet
Latin: Boissonneaua jardini
Other: Coronita Aterciopelada, Colibrí sietecolores (Es)
Family: Trochilidae • Hummingbirds
Range: Andes; Colombia, Ecuador
Similar:

The Velvet Purple Coronet is a very striking bird with superb deep purple plumage. The head and chest can often look black. In Ecuador found northwest of Quito, in mid-altitude forest - seen here at Mindo Lindo Lodge, for example.

More photos...

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

Bird name: Buff Tailed Coronet
Latin: Boissonneaua flavescens
Other: Colibrí colihabano, chupasavia, coronita colianteada (Es)
Family: Trochilidae • Hummingbirds
Range: Andes; Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela
Similar:

Buff Tailed Coronet is buff under the tail, has white puffy thighs, otherwise mostly green. Also some buff on shoulders and white post-ocular spot.

850m to 2000m altitude; usually above 1400m. Seen at Paz de las Aves, Bellavista Lodge and Guango Lodge.More photos...

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

Bird name: Andean Emerald
Latin: Amazilia franciae
Other: Esmeralda andina, Diamante de pico largo (Es)
Family: Trochilidae • Hummingbirds
Range: Andes; Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Similar:

The Andean Emerald, pictured here in Mindo, Ecuador. White below with green crown. It lives in the cloud forest from 1000 to 2000 metres.

More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Santa Lucia, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy

Bird name: Olivaceous Piha
Latin: Snowornis cryptolophus
Other: Piha olicacéa (Es)
Family: Cotingidae • Cotingas, Pihas
Range: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Similar: Grey-tailed Piha, tanagers

Although Birds of Ecuador (Ridgely & Greenfield, 2001) puts the Pihas on the Flycatchers plate (and uses old genus name Lathria), as they look rather similar, in fact, Pihas are related to Cotingas.

I was lucky in that a good Dutch guide (can’t remember name) with another group managed to call this one down from the tree tops at Paz de las Aves. We then observed it swooping and the guide even took a recording. Note light eye-ring.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Santa Lucia, Ecuador, Feb 2011 • Do not copy

Bird name: Andean Cock of the Rock
Latin: Rupicola peruvianus
Other: Gallo de la Peña Andino (Es)
Family: Cotingidae • Cotingas, Cock-of-the-Rocks
Range: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
Similar:

The Andean Cock of the Rock is a superb bird, emblematic of the Mindo - Choco region. Tours can be taken to visit Cock of the Rock leks at several places, where anything from two or three individuals to two or three dozen males will gather daily in a lek at dawn to be selected by a female. Good weather helps and the “summer” (around June) is said to be the breeding season.

Photography is difficult for all but the latest generation of cameras, because you are shooting in the dark - flash is not allowed. If you can shoot above 3000 ISO and have a fast, stabilised lens, you should be OK.

Santa Lucia has a very good lek, well over a dozen males turned up on the day we attended, despite it being off-season, with no female and rain in the night. But it’s a fair old trek in the morning - a couple of hours before dawn, some through deep mud on steep paths. Before that, just to reach Santa Lucia involves an excruciating two-hour walk up the mountainside in thin air, unless you happen to be a mountain goat, in which case it will take you an hour.

I saw a female flying though the forest at San Isidro - it perched above us.

More photos...

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

Bird name: Orange Breasted Fruiteater
Latin: Pipreola jucunda
Other: Frutero pechinaranja (Es)
Family: Cotingidae • Cotingas, Fruiteaters
Range: Colombia to Ecuador
Similar: Scarlet-breasted Fruteater, female Black-Chested Fruiteater

We were treated to very good views of one or two Orange-breasted Fruiteater at Angel Paz’s ranch, feeding on two sorts of berry. The colour of the tree above seems to match the Orange-breasted Fruiteater’s colours perfectly. Angel notices what trees attract particular birds and tries to plant accordingly.

A hawk was circling nearby, which seemed to keep the fruiteaters stuck to their branches.

The orange-breasted Fruiteater has a well-defined yellow-orange chest and neck, black hood, lemon-yellow belly and rich green upperparts. Iris is yellow-orange. Beautiful birds, males are unmistakable in Ecuador, females are mostly green, striated underparts, with orange bill and yellow iris.

In Ecuador only found in northwest, mid altitude.

More photos...

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

Bird name: Scaled Fruiteater
Latin: Ampelioides tschudii
Other: Frutero escamado (Es)
Family: Cotingidae • Cotingas, Fruiteaters
Range: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
Similar:

Just one sighting of this Scaled Fruiteater, at Paz de las Aves, which perched right above me then flew off…

Note short tail and contoured feathers.

Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Santa Lucia, Ecuador, March.

Bird name: Slate Throated Whitestart
Latin: Myioborus miniatus
Other: Slate-throated Redstart • Candelita goliplomiza (Es) • Mariquita-cinza (Br)
Family: Parulidae • New World Warblers, Whitestarts
Range: Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Guianas, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina.
Similar: Parulas, Euphonias

One of the most widespread and frequently-seen passerines in Ecuador in March at mid-altitude - fast-moving but will perch nearby. Seen on the slope up to Santa Lucia, Mirador Rio Blanco, Paz de las Aves and Milpe, but the best views were at San Isidro (above). Often found in mixed flocks.

In Panama, I only saw them in the eastern Chiriqui province, where they are known by the old name of Slate-throated Redstart. They did not live close to huts like the Collared Whitestart, so were seen less frequently.

The Slate-throated Whitestart is yellow below, slate above, extending over head and throat (unlike the Parulas in Panama). Longish tail with white outer feathers distinguishes it from Euphonias. Small rufous crest is sometimes difficult to see. One fanned its tail frequently (photo below).



Directly above and below, Slate-throated Whitestarts, Chiriqui, Panama, May. © monacoeye
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: 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 • 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 • 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 • 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...