Day Trips - Quito, Ecuador - 2007 ABA International Conference - Conferences

2007 ABA International Conference - Quito, Ecuador - 1-7 September 2007

BIRDER PROGRAM • NON-BIRDING PARTNER PROGRAM

The day trip program for this conference will give participants a great cross-section of Andean habitats including elfin forest, cloudforest, foothill forest, and high páramo. With 4 1/2 days in the field, we should see around 250 species, including numerous rare and endemic species, along with dozens of brilliantly-colored hummingbirds, tanagers, toucans, and other unforgettable birds. Each destination will be visited in rotation to give all attendees the opportunity to visit each location.

BIRDER PROGRAM

Antisana

HOODED MOUNTAIN TANAGER

The high plains at the base of this snow-capped 19,000 ft volcano are one of Ecuador’s last refuges for the awesome Andean Condor and the beautiful Black-faced Ibis. We join together for this half-day trip on 4 September; this should be enough time for us to see most of the other target species such as the exquisite Ecuadorian Hillstar, Carunculated Caracara, and Andean Lapwing. The lake is good for Silvery Teal and other waterfowl such as Andean Ruddy Duck.

Papallacta
The radio towers at Papallacta Pass will take us to 14,000 ft. elevation. The páramo here is the home of Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe, Tawny Antpitta, White-chinned Thistletail and Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant. Around mid-morning we will stop at some polylepis forest and search for Giant Conebill and Black-backed Bush-Tanager. Later we head downslope to Guango where hummingbird feeders attract a variety of species including the logo Sword-billed Hummer. This area of upper east slope can be quite good in the early afternoon, and we will time our visit to maximize our chance of encountering mixed flocks with beauties like the Black-capped Hemispingus and Plushcap.

Yanacocha Reserve
Yanacocha is just great. We will be in high elevation cloudforest on the edge of Volcán Pichincha, with spectacular scenery. Despite the altitude, the trail is almost dead flat and very wide, allowing excellent visibility and easy birding. This is a superb destination because although overall species numbers are not huge, most of the families are represented. We will seek Barred Fruiteater, Red-crested Cotinga, Andean Guan, and Ocellated Tapaculo. After lunch, it is likely that Yanacocha will be fogged in, so we bird slowly down the entrance road back towards Quito.

Tandayapa Valley

TOUCAN BARBET

The mixed flocks of the Tandayapa Valley Road hold a real feast of avian delights and we will be spending plenty of time to see them. Up to 12 species of tanager can be present, moving with tyrannulets, fruiteaters, wood warblers, and a host of furnariids. We will be sifting through these flocks not only for the large and spectacular species like Toucan Barbet, Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, and Turquoise Jay, but also for the small and delightful Pearled Treerunner, Tanager Finch, and Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant. Although you have seen a fair number of species by now, this is the place for hummingbirds. The Tandayapa Bird Lodge hummingbird feeders are the best in the world, with up to 20 species an hour, and often 10 species at the feeders at the very same time. We’ll have lunch here, giving us time to enjoy the show and watch for other birds near the balcony.

Milpe and Los Bancos

MOSS-BACKED TANAGER

We spend a full day in the field concentrating on the lower elevation foothill forest at around 3600 feet. Here Mindo Cloudforest Foundation have their Milpe Bird Santuary, with hummingbird feeders, good trails and a lookout. Roadside birding here should bring us Moss-backed Tanager, Rufous-throated Tanager, Ochrebreasted Tanager, and possibly Glistening-green Tanager. Nearby we will visit a lek of the attractive Club-winged Manakin and witness its bizarre display. This is our primary opportunity to encounter several of the larger and more spectacular lowland toucans and we have a good chance for mixed feeding flocks of tanagers, foliage-gleaners, barbets and others. For lunch we will visit another hummingbird feeding station where the highlights will be the breathtaking: Velvet-purple Coronet and the elegant Empress Brilliant. The rest of the afternoon will be spent in the Mindo area in search of more hummingbirds and a selection of more common species of forest edge and open habitat.

Physical Limitations Track
Tropical Birding will provide a separate guide to ensure that those with limitations of endurance or mobility will also have a great time full of quality birding. The PLT will go to the same areas that the rest of the conference attendees will enjoy, but will bird at a slower pace with plenty of time for resting, so bring your folding stools! Due to the slower pace, the entire area of a set trail may not be covered. As standard buses will be used for all transportation, necessary mobility will be required.

NON-BIRDING PARTNER PROGRAM

Is your birder partner always heading off to great places like Ecuador and leaving you behind? We are offering a series of day trips with knowledgeable local guides concentrating on culture, history, and natural history. The program has been designed specifically for you by Tropical Birding in close conjunction with the Quito Tourism Corporation. The trips wrap the activities that Quito has to offer into a package that has you in cloudforest, churches, indeginous markets, up volcanoes, great restaurants and so much more. Linked with pre- and post-conference trips to the Galapagos and Amazon, you too can have the trip of a lifetime.

The best of Colonial Quito

PLAZA DE SAN FRANCISCO

Today is the day that we explore beautiful churches, cathedrals, and museums of the Quito “old town.” This part of the city has been restored to give you the real flavor of what Ecuador was like a few hundred years ago. We start the morning with a short bus ride from the hotel to the Iglesia de Santa Barbara and the Monestario and Iglesia de la Concepción, where we will meet the special police guides established for priority movement. The Santa Barbara Church was built in the 16th century to “evangelize the natives”, which appears to have worked, given the many more churches built afterwards. Next we venture over to Plaza De La Independencia or Plaza Grande. This stunning plaza was also built in the 16th century and has remained the center of Quito activities. Around the Plaza we tour the Presidential Palace and the Quito Cathederal before visiting the Arco de la Reina and Monistaria de El Carmin. Lunch will be at the delightful El Museo de la Ciudad. Even the most jaded of tourists will find this locality fascinating; founded as the first morgue and hospital of Ecuador in 1653, it remains the oldest civil building in the country. There are a variety of displays from the pre-Incas to the 19th century.

After lunch we walk over to the most impressive of all churches in the country, the Iglesia y Convento de San Fransisco. The complex, with seven principle cloisters and several secondary ones, three temples and seven patios, is ideal for photography. The principle temple has an expansive interior and baroque alter. We will have a couple hours to explore the intricacies of the church and grounds before we return to the hotel.

Calderas, cloudforests, and the equator
We start today with a 40 minute drive to the Mitad del Mundo monument and complex just north of Quito. Here we not only get to straddle the Equator, but spend some time in the surrounding shops and the small museum on site. Local snacks are often on sale with a treat or two for the more adventurous. We then head over the pass into the west slope of the Andes where we will visit the Tandayapa Bird Lodge. Tandayapa has the highest density of hummingbird species coming to feeders anywhere in the world, and is a real treat for even the hardiest of “non-birder”. After lunch, we will take a walk in the surrounding cloudforest laden with orchids and bromeliads, and then head back towards Quito. On the return trip we stop in at Pulaluhua, which is a caldera valley formed from an extinct volcano. Depending on time, we may enter the caldera or drive around the top for spectacular views of this very interesting geomorphological structure.

Pyramids, Lakes, and Otavalo

OTAVALO MARKETS

When people think of the indigenous culture in Ecuador, the Otavalo market is the image that first springs to mind, and that is the focus of today’s trip. We start the trip with a visit to the Pyramids of Cochasqui and look at some of the most significant pre-Inca archeological sites in the country. These cultures built 15 pyramids with ramps that formed a celestial observatory with solar and lunar calendars. We continue north past Lago San Pablo on the edge of Imbabura Volcano to the small colorful city of Otavalo. Here the majority of people still live in traditional clothing and make their living dealing with the tourist trade. A visit to the popular Indian markets of this small, unique city is sure to be a highlight for many people. The market is just one mass of color, with a huge range of food, fabrics, clothes, high quality handicrafts and inexpensive souvenirs. After lunch we make a short trip to the leather-crafting town of Cotacachi which is different again from the places visited earlier. Overall this makes for an interesting day with a chance to explore a very different Ecuador from further south.

Guayasamín Museum, Teleférico, and Guápulo

CHURCH, GUAPALO

Those people who have not experienced the artwork of Guayasamín are truly missing out on something special. His “expressionist work, denouncing violence and injustice, reflecting sensitivity and the cry of world awareness, sent from Latin America” is the most recognizable style of modern Ecuadorian art. We will visit the museum not only dedicated to his works, but also to pre-Colombian art, and colonial art. We also visit the adjoining Guayasamín Chapel of Man which is an artwork far too impressive to describe here without sounding pretentious. This is not the kind of place to breeze through, but after a couple of hours we head off to the new cable car up the Pichincha Volcano that gives you a panoramic view of Quito. Here you not only get access to stunning scenery, but you get it in comfort, with great coffee at hand. This relaxing morning is followed by a visit to Guápulo, a small town hidden on a steep slope just below Quito, its ancient church and cobblestone streets in stark contrast to the modern high-rises looming above. It is hard to believe that you are only a couple of miles from the hotel.

Half day in Antisana with the birders
All attendees will visit Antisana together. Not only a great place for birding, it is a high plain at the base of this snow-capped 19,000 ft volcano, with breathtaking scenery. Access to this huge reserve is very limited and looking over the paramo with llamas and herdsman, you will get a real feel for what the Quito region looked like thousands of years ago.

Copyright © American Birding Association, Inc. 2006. All material displayed on the ABA website is subject to copyright protection either by the ABA or its associates and should not be reproduced in any form without the express prior written consent of ABA.