Ecuador - Best of the Rest (Part 1)

Hummingbirds and tanagers were not the only families of birds that we encountered during our stay in Ecuador.  There were so many more, but numbers in the families were a bit smaller and did not compare to the hummingbirds and tanagers.  So now we move on to the rest of the birds.  There are so many that it will require two posts to cover the rest.  

Going to start off with 4 different birds that all start out with the word 'Andean' as the first part of the name.  While none of them are related, it does suggest that these species are most likely associated with the Andes Mountains and probably not found outside of this remarkable mountain range of South America.

Andean Lapwing

 Andean Guan

 Andean Condor - Not great photos by any means, but seeing 2 of them was quite special!

Andean Condor

This next bird is a bird I have about often dreamed about seeing since I was a child.  After seeing pictures of a Cock-of-the-rock when I was young, I was captivated by its beauty.  And WOW! are they loud and noisy.  Here is a link to a video I made in the dark with them calling.

   

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock

We also had the pleasure of adding 4 species of antpitta to our list, of which I was able to photograph 3 of them.  These birds can be difficult to spot even if one is calling.  Some of the land owners have discovered that these birds sometimes respond to being given a little incentive to show themselves when fed a few worms from the land owners.  And some of these owners have named their local birds and are pleased to show them to birders that come to Ecuador.  Notice they all have short tails.

 Chestnut-crowned Antpitta

Moustached Antpitta - Listed as 'Threatened' (vulnerable).

White-bellied Antpitta

Now we can move on to a toucan, a toucanet, a trogon, a quetzal, and an araçari.  These birds are quite popular with birders and rightfully so.  They are unique and most are very colorful and a bit mysterious.  

 Choco Toucan

Collared Araçari

 Crimson-rumped Toucanet

Golden-headed Quetzal

Masked Trogon - Male

Masked Trogon - Female

Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan

The last four photos are an eclectic set of photos.  A couple of them are nocturnal birds, one of them is a wood-quail, and one of them is a fruiteater.

Common Potoo - On nest

Common Potoo - There is a chick in front of the bird under all those feathers.

Dark-backed Wood-Quail

Barred Fruiteater

White-throated Screech-Owl

Will have one more blog post to finish off my Ecuador trip coming up in the near future.

Hope you enjoyed the various different birds.  

   

  

Ecuador - The Hummingbirds

Ecuador is also known for its many hummingbird species.  Hummingbirds are a specialty of the tropics and Ecuador alone has recorded at least 130 species.  During my visit to Ecuador, I managed to see 44 species on that list of 130, so there is a lot more to explore in the future. Obviously, I was not able to photograph all of those 44 species.  Some were easier than others, some were species that I had seen before elsewhere, and some just would not cooperate!  Hummingbirds are a fascinating family of birds and they have a plethora of names, some interesting and some rather confusing.

Crowned Woodnymph

Speaking of some of the different names of hummingbirds, there are 3 species of Coronets found in Ecudaor.  We had a trifecta on this group, getting to see all 3 species.  I failed to get any photos of the Velvet-purple Coronet, but the other 2 are shown below. 

 Buff-tailed Coronet

 Chestnut-breasted Coronet

Likewise, there are also 3 species of Violetear found in Ecuador and once again, we hit a trifecta is seeing all 3 species.  And once again, I failed to get a photo of one of them, the Lesser Violetear.  We found that the Sparkling Violetear is pretty aggressive around feeders, but still a stunning bird.  The Brown Violetear had been a bit of a nemesis bird for me, missed finding it in Costa Rica and also Chiapas, Mexico.  And these 2 photos show how they got named 'violet ear'.

 Sparkling Violetear

 Brown Violetear

There are several species of hummingbirds that are known for their long tails.  The next 3 photos cover these species, however the 3rd photo is of a female, which does not have the long tail.  The male Booted Racket-tail has the distinction of the long tail and I was not able to capture a photo of the male.

Black-tailed Trainbearer

Long-tailed Sylph

Booted Racket-tail - Female

Another group of hummingbirds are the Woodstars.  These little jewels are tiny!  None of them exceed 3 inches (7 cm) in length.  And once you see one, you know immediately it is a Woodstar.  They look like midgets compared to the rest of the hummingbird species.  We added 4 species of Woodstar to our lists, and I was able to photograph 3 of them.  

Purple-throated Woodstar

 Gorgeted Woodstar

White-bellied Woodstar

The remainder of  my photos cover an eclectic list of hummingbirds with various different names.  This group of birds is so diverse and each has its own ecological niche in this world.

 Buff-winged Starfrontlet

Golden-breasted Puffleg - note the white puffy legs above the feet.

Great Sapphirewing - This photo does not do justice to this species.

 Rainbow-bearded Thornbill - one of my favorites.

 Sword-billed Hummingbird - Aptly named, bill is longer than the bird.

Tyrian Metaltail

 Andean Emerald

Collared Inca - A very flashy bird when visiting feeders.

 Speckled Hummingbird

 Tourmaline Sunangel

White-necked Jacobin

Shining Sunbeam

What a vast, colorful group of birds.  Would love to spend more time chasing hummingbirds in the tropics, but only time will tell if that happens.  I doubt that I will get as many species on any future trips as I did on this trip to Ecuador.  

   

Ecuador - The Tanagers

Birding in the tropics holds a special fascination for me.  It is due to the outstanding families of birds, many of which are not represented in the United States and Canada.  Of those families found in the United States, the number of species in the tropics exceeds all we have to offer and really makes one aware of why there are over 10,000 species of the birds in the entire world.  However, we are losing species every year to extinction and most of that is due to habitat loss.  Mass areas of tropical rain forest are being cleared daily and many species are being squeezed out of places to breed and live.  

Fortunately, some countries in the tropics are starting to take note of this and are getting on the bandwagon and starting to promote ecotourism.  The natives are learning that tourism can bring revenue to their land and by not destroying the native vegetation, they will have income in years to come.  Costa Rica comes to mind as being a front-runner, but some South American countries are starting to take advantage of the ecotourism as well, and one of those countries is Ecuador.  

Ecuador is a fairly small country in size, but the diversity of bird life is amazing.  Over 1600 species of birds have been documented in a country that is roughly the size of the state of Nevada in the United States.  Compare those numbers to the United States that has documented a little over 1000 species. It is easy to see the incredible diversity in species in this small country. It is a must see location for any bird enthusiast of tropical birding. 

This first blog post will cover the tanagers that I was able to photograph during my stay.  The viewer will quickly note the diversity and palette of color in this family of birds.

Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager

 Black-chested Mountain-Tanager

Fawn-breasted Tanager

Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager

 Black-capped Tanager

Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager

 Flame-faced Tanager

 Golden Tanager

Golden-naped Tanager

 Flame-rumped Tanager

 Rufous-throated Tanager

Silver-throated Tanager

Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager

Total species of tanagers seen was 24, but I was only able to photograph 13 species.  There are a lot more species to be seen in Ecuador, so a future trip might someday be of interest.  However, there are a lot of places to see birds in this world and I know I will not be able to see them all, so I have to pick and choose what are the most appealing for me and my life list.  

Next post will feature a different family of birds that was very numerous in Ecuador.