Welcome to Birdquest

NORTHERN PERU

Birdquest's Northern Peru birding tour explores a less-often-visited part of one of South America's premier birdwatching countries. This exciting tour focuses on the many species found in the northern part of Peru, home to numerous specialities, including White-winged Guan and the extraordinary Marvelous Spatuletail.

Saturday 27th July - Wednesday 14th August 2013
(19 days)

Leader: Eustace Barnes

Group Size Limit: 9

Tour Category: Easy to Moderate for the most part, but two optional fairly Demanding trails

The remarkable Marvellous Spatuletail is certainly one of the most extraordinary birds in existence. It is uncommon in its tiny range but thankfully shy males like this one are now regular at a couple of stake-outs that even include feeders (Pete Morris)

One of the topographically most complex countries on earth, Peru boasts an immense avifauna adding up to a staggering total of over 1800 species. While most Peruvian bird tour itineraries omitting almost the entire northern half of this huge country, South American bird addicts have always longed to explore the ‘unknown’ regions of this fabulous land.

No country has seen the discovery of as many birds new to science in the last few decades than Peru has, and in the late seventies and early eighties new species were described at an average rate of two per year. Since they were usually found in isolated mountain ranges and remote areas, the full scale expeditions that led to their discovery greatly increased our knowledge of South American birds in general, and more was learnt about many birds that until then were only known from a few old specimens. Notwithstanding, many of the country’s birds are still poorly known, and there are still several species of which practically nothing is known in life.

This adventurous tour focuses on the largely mountainous northern tier of the country, a fantastic treasure chest of endemic, localized and little-known birds. With a mountainous backbone sliced up by the mighty Marañon River and its tributaries, this region is a biogeographic jigsaw puzzle that still hasn’t given up all its secrets. Our journey will take us from the Western Cordillera of the Andes into the breathtaking Marañon Canyon, where the headwaters of the Amazon run through an arid mountain valley for over 600 miles (1000km), and from there to the forested mountainsides of the outlying eastern slopes of the Andes. Finally we will explore the deserts and foothills along the Pacific coast. During our travels we will search for some near-legendary species. Whilst focusing on the many specialities, we will also see a large variety of more widespread birds and enjoy some scenery that is among the most spectacular in the continent.

Starting out in the colonial city of Cajamarca, where centuries ago Pizarro captured Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, we shall search for the endangered Gray-bellied Comet and visit a valley where the endangered Great Spinetail inhabits arid montane scrub.

Next we will traverse rugged mountain ridges towards Celendín, looking for such specialities as Striated Earthcreeper, the cajamarcae form of the Rufous Antpitta, Jelski’s Chat-Tyrant, Black-crested Tit-Tyrant and Rufous-webbed Tyrant, and then descend into the spectacular Marañon Canyon where endemics such as Chestnut-backed Thornbird, Marañon Thrush and Gray-winged and Buff-bridled Inca-Finches make their home.

Climbing back up through the infamous Abra Barro Negro (which means ‘Black Mud Pass’), we will look for Coppery Metaltail, the recently rediscovered Russet-mantled Softtail and a number of other high elevation specialities before dropping back down into the Utcubamba Valley.

Next we will head for Pomacochas, located in the heart of the range of what may be the world’s most spectacular hummingbird, the amazing Marvelous Spatuletail. Not far away, Owlet Lodge will be our base for exploring the diverse birdlife of the cloudforests on the jagged mountain ridges of Abra Patricia and the luxuriant foothill forests of Afluente lower down. Here we will look for such legendary birds as Royal Sunangel, Cinnamon-breasted Tody-Tyrant and Bar-winged Wood-Wren, while also sampling the rich east Andean cloudforest avifauna, including scores of colourful tanagers. Lower down, the foothill forest holds the endangered Ash-throated Antwren and the San Martin form of the Mishana Tyrannulet, which may represent a distinct species.

Retracing our footsteps into the Utcubamba Valley, we will look for yet more Marañon endemics near Jaen. Eventually we will descend into the Pacific coastal lowlands and adjacent foothills where, in addition to searching for the famous White-winged Guan, we will look for Peruvian Plantcutter, the rare Russet-bellied Spinetail, Piura Chat-Tyrant, Rufous Flycatcher and a number of other desert and deciduous forest specialities.

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/guesthouses are mostly of normal Birdquest standard. The hotel at Celendín is simple but adequate, while the hotel at Leymebamba and the Owlet Lodge at Abra Patricia are surprisingly pleasant with good food and comfortable beds (each bathroom is shared between two rooms at Owlet Lodge). Road transport is by small coach and roads are very variable in quality (sometimes poor, with several long drives on bumpy surfaces).

Important: No camping is required on our tour, yet no sites are missed as a result.

Walking: The walking effort is mostly easy to moderate, but there are two optional harder walks at Abra Patricia.

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. At high altitudes conditions range from cool to decidedly cold in the early morning. It may well rain at times and it will be rather humid at lower altitudes.

Bird Photography: Opportunities are worthwhile.

Linkable Birdquest: Central Peru

Tour Price: (provisional): $6040 Lima/Lima. Price includes all transportation (including Lima-Cajamarca and Trujillo-Lima flights), 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 Supplement: (provisional): $700.

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 Yellow-faced Parrotlet, endemic to a small section of the impressive Maranon canyon, appears to be recovering from precarious numbers (Pete Morris)

Similarly, populations of the critically endangered White-winged Guan appear to have stabilized, and our walk into Quebrada Limon for wild guans (rather than the more easily seen, tame, re-introduced birds elsewhere) is always one of the tour highlights (Pete Morris)

This Buff-bridled Inca-Finch from the Maranon canyon is one of three endemic inca-finches we will see along our route (Pete Morris)

This distinctive Maranon Thrush is another example of how divergent many of the Maranon endemics are and further evidence of the impact this mighty river had on bird evolution (Pete Morris)

The recently described Johnson’s (Lulu’s) Tody-Tyrant is one of the many gems from the Abra Patricia cloud forest (Pete Morris)

View Map Download Detailed Itinerary 590kb

Report From June 2009/July 2009 Report From June 2008/July 2008 Report From June 2011/July 2011

This Grey-bellied Comet is one of several birds along our route that were practically unknown in the wild until only recently (Pete Morris)

Montane hummers such as this Chestnut-breasted Coronet are on display at a few different feeding stations (Pete Morris)

The cloud forest of Abra Patricia is the only accessible site for the restricted-range Cinnamon Screech-Owl (Pete Morris)

Likewise the endemic Koepcke’s Screech-Owl is restricted to the arid canyons along our route (Pete Morris)

The Maranon Screech-Owl is just one of the many Maranon endemics (Pete Morris)

…which also include the superb Maranon Crescentchest (Pete Morris)

…the Little Inca-Finch from the desert plain (Pete Morris)

…and the Maranon (or Peruvian) Pigeon from the Maranon canyon (Pete Morris)

The endangered Peruvian Plantcutter will be a major highlight from the algarrobo woodlands of the Chiclayo area (Pete Morris)

... habitat which also holds this unique Myiarchus: Rufous Flycatcher (Pete Morris)

Other Tumbesian endemics include the Cinereous Finch (Pete Morris)

... and Plumbeous-backed Thrush (Pete Morris)

The Peruvian Thick-Knee is surprisingly cryptic amidst the coastal terrain (Pete Morris)

At Abra Patricia we will seek the rarely seen White-faced Nunbird (Pete Morris)

... and the spectacular and jay-like White-capped Tanager (Pete Morris)

Birdquest LLC, 3721 Executive Center Drive, Suite 268, Austin, TX 78731

Ph: 512-343-1700, Fax: 512-343-1701

Website crafted by the Accent Design Group.