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CENTRAL PERU

The Ultimate Peruvian Endemics Tour

Birdquest's Central Peru birding tour is one of a series of Peru birdwatching trips we offer. This exciting tour focuses on the many species found in the central part of Peru, home to numerous specialities, ranging from Junin Grebe and Diademed Sandpiper-Plover to White-cheeked Cotinga and Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager, and finishes off with an exciting pelagic out into the cool waters of the Humboldt Current.

Tuesday 9th July - Thursday 25th July 2013
(17 days)

Pelagic Post-Tour Extension to Saturday 27th July (2 days)

Leader: Pete Morris

Group Size Limit: 10

Tour Category: Easy at times, but mostly Moderate, and there are two or three fairly Demanding hikes

Our Central Peru circuit holds a surprising number of endemics and other specialities. Diademed Plover (or Sandpiper-Plover) fits into the latter category and is always a favourite as it quite literally hops across the bogs! (Pete Morris)

Forming a huge block of land on the western side of South America, Peru is one of the continent’s most mountainous countries, where isolated valleys and cordilleras have seen avian evolution in full swing. Not only boasting an amazing avifauna of about 1800 species, it also holds a considerable number of little-known and highly localized endemics, several dozens of which have only been discovered in the last few decades.

Designed as the ultimate itinerary for Peruvian endemics, this fabulous journey takes us through a wide range of habitats across the topographically complex Peruvian Andes.

We start our journey in Lima, from where we will head up the arid Santa Eulalia Valley to look for Bronze-tailed Comet, Canyon Canastero, Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch and many other interesting birds.

Next we will visit the high Andean bogs of Marcapomacocha, the haunt of the legendary Diademed Sandpiper-Plover and a handful of exciting endemics including White-bellied Cinclodes. Farther inland lies Lago Junín, the second largest lake in the country, and home to the endangered Junín Grebe.

From here we will continue our journey to Huancayo (after which the famous Peruvian dish ‘papas huancainas’ is named) to explore some seldom-visited mountains and valleys where our main targets will be several more endemics: Fire-throated Metaltail, Eye-ringed Thistletail, the recently described Black-goggled Brush-Finch and a newly discovered but as yet undescribed wren.

Next we shall descend to Huanuco, our base for exploring the rich and bromeliad-laden cloudforests of the Carpish Mountains and the Paty Trail. An enticing set of multi-hued tanagers and shimmering hummingbirds will await us here, as well as such secretive forest-floor endemics as Bay and Chestnut Antpittas, and a superb supporting cast of other cloudforest birds.

One of the highlights of the tour will undoubtedly be our trek up to the remote Bosque Unchog, where will camp for three nights. Only first visited by ornithologists in the 1970s, this land of misty paramos and contorted elfin forests is where we shall seek out some of Peru’s most wanted endemics, including the enormous Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager, the smart Bay-vented Cotinga, the awkward Pardusco and the elusive Rufous-browed Hemispingus.

The penultimate leg of our journey will be through the breathtaking Cordillera Blanca, not only the setting for some of the continent’s most spectacular scenery but also home to yet another set of exciting endemics. Here we will search high-elevation Polylepis woodland, shrubby gullies and boulder-strewn slopes for such interesting birds as Ancash Tapaculo, White-cheeked Cotinga, Plain-tailed Warbling-Finch and Rufous-eared Brush-Finch, whilst the awesome contours of Huascaran, Peru’s highest mountain, constantly loom in the background.

Finally we will visit the Lomas de Lachay and their characteristic ‘fog vegetation’, inhabited by such desirable endemics as Coastal and Thick-billed Miners, Cactus Canastero and Raimondi’s Yellow-Finch.

At the end of the tour there will be an optional pelagic extension to the rich waters of the Humboldt current. We will make a full day excursion to the deep waters where two rare and localized species, Markham’s and Ringed (or Hornby’s) Storm Petrels can be found. As well as these there’s an excellent supporting cast which may well include White-vented and Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels, Waved Albatross, Peruvian Diving-Petrel and Swallow-tailed Gull amongst others. It is also likely that we will see some cetaceans during the day.

Birdquest has operated tours to Peru since 1982.

(Note: The above is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed, day-by-day itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)

Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels/lodges are of normal Birdquest standard. At Bosque Unchog we will stay for a total of three nights in a simple but comfortable tented camp (with twin or single occupancy available) specially set up for us by our local agent. Road transport is by small coach and roads are decidedly variable in quality (rough in some areas).

Walking: The walking effort is mostly easy or moderate, but there are two or three more strenuous hikes.

Climate: Rather variable. At low and middle elevations many days are warm or hot, dry and sunny, though on other days it can be cool and overcast. A large part of our time will be spent at high altitudes, where conditions range from warm or cool to decidedly cold. It may well rain at times and it will be rather humid in the Carpish Mountains and at Bosque Unchog.

Bird Photography: Opportunities are quite good.

Linkable Birdquest: Northern Peru

Tour Price: (provisional): $5250 Lima/Lima. Post-Tour Extension: $800. Price includes all transportation, all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.

Single Room/Tent Supplement: (provisional): $614. Post-Tour Extension: $144.

Deposit: 10% of the tour price (excluding any single supplement).

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.

The impressive White-bellied Cinclodes is one of the rarest furnarids in the world, though is fortunately quite easy to find. Our central Peru tour targets an excellent suite of spectacular and localized endemics (Pete Morris)

Unlike most antpittas, the smart Stripe-headed Antpitta is at home hopping about on rocky, treeless slopes! (Pete Morris)

This female Sword-billed Hummingbird displays the amazing bill of this incredible species (Pete Morris)

The Santa Eulalia Valley above Lima offers some incredible scenery (Pete Morris)

View Map Download Detailed Itinerary 626kb

Report From June 2004 Report From July 2011

The impressive Inca Tern is always a favourite along the coast (Pete Morris)

... where the localized Belcher's (or Band-tailed) Gull can also be found (Pete Morris)

High in the Andes, we can expect to find plenty of Andean Geese (Pete Morris)

Remote lakes hold breeding Giant Coots (Pete Morris)

... and with luck we will also find the secretive Puna Snipe (Pete Morris)

The almost cisticola-like Paramo Pipit is another inhabitant of the high grasslands (Pete Morris)

A whole suite of montane hummingbirds await us with such glorious names as Shining Sunbeam (Pete Morris)

... Coppery Metaltail (Pete Morris)

... and Coppery-naped Puffleg (Pete Morris)

Andean Flickers frequently nest in roadside banks (Pete Morris)

... but it will take a bit more luck to find the superb Crimson-bellied Woodpecker (Pete Morris)

In the same montane forests we should find the smart White-collared Jay (Pete Morris)

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