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2007 QUITO CONFERENCE REPORT

1-7 September 2007

185 intrepid travelers descended upon the capital of Ecuador for a week of the finest Andean birding imaginable. Hosted by the fine folks at Tropical Birding and sponsored by Swarovski Optik, the Quito conference offered a glimpse of life in the city, 5-star accommodations at the Hotel Dann Carlton, scrumptious breakfast buffets, fine dinners, informative and entertaining speakers, and lest I forget: birds… and lots of them! The species total for the week reached 462. Wow just doesn't say it!

From the first day jaunt through Park La Carolina, a short walk from the Hotel Dann, the birds were no less than phenomenal. Southern hemisphere replacements for common park birds in North America included Eared Dove for Mourning Dove, Great Thrush for American Robin and Rufous-collared Sparrow for House Sparrow (but with the sweeter song of a Zonotrichia sparrow). The park also hosted Blue and White and Brown-bellied Swallows, Black and Masked Flowerpiercers, Vermillion Flycatchers, Southern Beardless-Tyrannulets, Cinereous Conebills, Hooded Siskins, Sparking Violet-ears, and the odds-on favorite, Black tailed Trainbearers. These tiny hummingbirds with a tail more than twice their body length were a sight to see as they buzzed by high in the trees and occasionally perched for a better glimpse. My personal highlight from Day 1 was following a female in flight to a pine tree where I observed her constructing a pendulous nest amongst the needles.

The official field trips began with numerous buses to the impressive high altitude destinations of Papallacta and Yanacocha, the cloud-forests of Tandayapa and Milpe, and the foothill forests of Rio Silanche. The staff of Tropical Birding did an impressive job of grouping attendees by experience, physical ability, energy and enthusiasm with the hard-core chasers departing as early as 3:30 am. Groups rotated amongst the destinations throughout the week with all descending upon the presently-private reserve at Antisana on Tuesday. Another first was the non-birder tract with fabulous local cuisine and entertaining and historical trips to colonial Quito, cultural museums, churches and cathedrals, ancient pyramids, art museums, and the fabulous Markets at Otavalo. The "Doraditos" group straddled the equator, made us all jealous with their sit-down meal at Antisana, and even added an American Kestrel to the conference species list!

The Papallacta trip included the high páramo habitat of the Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe, Bar-winged Cinclodes and Plumbeous Sierra-finch, elfin forest that hosts Giant Conebill, Grass (Sedge) Wren, Tawny Antpitta, and Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant and the lower elevation forests and river at Guango Lodge. Torrent Ducks swam the rapids near Guango while Turquoise Jays, Northern Mountain-Caciques, Pearled Treerunners and Hooded Mountain-Tanagers paraded through the trees. The Guango Lodge feeders attracted hundreds of Masked Flowerpiercers and nearly 20 species of hummingbird, including Collared Inca, Mountain Avocetbill, Long-tailed Sylph, Glowing Puffleg and the Conference mascot, the Sword-billed Hummingbird.

Yanacocha is one of the reserves purchased and managed by Fundación Jocotoco. Though it is high elevation Polylepis forest on the slopes of the Pichincha Volcano, the 3 mile round trip hike was mostly wide and level and offered stunning views as well as stunning birds. Tyrian Metaltails, Buff-winged Starfrontlets, and Great Sapphirewings greeted us at the entrance gate feeders and a myriad of mountain-tanagers, conebills, flowerpiercers, antpittas, tapaculos filled the hike with either wonderous colors or curious noises from their skulking hiding places. The uphill trail section to our perched luncheon spot and turnaround point yielded several feeders with swarms of hummingbirds totaling a dozen or so species. The rare endemic Black-breasted Puffleg (the reason for establishing the reserve at Yanacocha) was not seen, though the Shining Sunbeams, Mountain Velvetbreasts, Sapphire-vented Pufflegs and Sword-billed Hummingbirds more than compensated. My highlight resulted from a frustrated glance skyward while searching for one of the skulkers encountered along the trail. "Carunculated Cara… CONDOR!" was my reaction as our leader Robert Ridgely, founder of the Fundación Jocotoco, turned to see the first Andean Condor he had seen at Yanacocha in 10 years. We were treated to thrilling views before it disappeared.

The venture to the Tandayapa Valley contrasted with the higher elevation trips by showcasing mixed flocks of flycatchers, tanagers, warblers and ovenbirds, while 3 species of swift and elegant raptors like Bat Falcon, Barred Hawk and Black-and-Chestnut Eagle soared above. The hummingbird feeders at the Tandayapa Bird Lodge were, once again, mesmerizing with new and different species such as Fawn-breasted and Empress Brilliants, Andean and Western Emeralds, White-bellied and Purple-throated Woodstars, all three Violet-ears, Gorgeted Sunangel, Purple-bibbed Whitetip, Brown Inca and Booted Rackettail. Flock highlights included Rusty-winged Barbtail, Flammulated, Striped and Streak-capped Treehunters, White-tailed Tyrannulets, Streaked-necked and Cinnamon Flycatchers, Three-striped and Russet-crowned Warblers, Capped Conebills, Golden-naped and Black-capped Tanagers, Blue-winged and Black-chinned Mountain-Tanagers and Tanager Finches. Moustached and Chestnut-crowned Antpittas, Masked Trogons, Toucan Barbets, Crimson-rumped Toucanets, and Plate-billed Mountain-Toucans rounded out the cast of incredible avifauna at Tandayapa.

Lower still were the forests of Milpe and Rio Silanche. With decreasing elevation, species diversity increased in a seemingly exponential fashion. The parrots, toucans, woodcreepers, tyrant flycatchers, swallows, tanagers, and Emberizine finches all showed their greatest species numbers in the foothills and cloud forests of Northwestern Ecuador. While I have experienced "warbler neck" in North America, I wasn't quite prepared for "Tanager neck." The Milpe area and the restaurant in Los Bancos contributed the endemic Moss-backed Tanager as well as Beryl-spangled, Blue-necked, Bay-headed, Ochre-breasted, White-lined, Rufous-throated, Silver-throated, Blue-gray, Lemon-rumped, Fawn-breasted, Golden, Palm and Swallow Tanagers. Several species of honeycreeper, euphonia, mountain-tanager, and bush-tanager also inflated the count in the tanager and allies category at Milpe. Additional goodies like Laughing Falcon, Roadside Hawk, Squirrel Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Broad-billed and Rufous Motmots, Emerald Toucanet, Pale-mandibled Aracari, Chocó Toucan, Pacific Hornero and 5 woodcreepers had me reeling with sheer delight. And yes, there were even more new hummingbirds including Green Thorntails, Band-tailed Barbthroats and White-whiskered Hermits among others.

All of the groups exodused Quito in a long caravan of buses to Antisana on Tuesday. Antisana itself is another of the 18,000 foot plus volcanoes in Ecuador and we snaked along a large lava flow on our way to high páramo, wetlands and lakes at approximately 14,000 feet of elevation. This tour offered our best chances for Giant Hummingbird and Ecuadorian Hillstar as we ascended and most groups were not disappointed. The open terrain allowed stunning scenery as well as stunning views of Variable Hawks, Carunculated Caracaras, and multiple sightings of Andean Condors: our target bird. The Fundación Jocotoco is working hard to buy crucial land at Antisana with the hope of saving one of the last remaining populations of Black-faced Ibis in the area. Other highlights included Barn Owl, Silvery Grebe, Andean Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail, Andean Coot, and flocks of Baird's and Upland Sandpipers and Andean Lapwings. Most got gorgeous looks at Andean Gull, Bar-winged and Stout-billed Cinclodes in close proximity for comparison, Many-striped Canastero, Andean Tit-Spinetail, Páramo Ground-Tyrant, and Páramo Pipit. The hospitality and chance to get out of the drizzle was much appreciated at the Hacienda Antisana.

While the birding was superb, our evening programs were also first-rate. Robert Ridgely opened the conference with tales of discovering the Jocotoco Antpitta and subsequent work, through Fundación Jocotoco, to establish reserves to protect Ecuadorian birds, especially in areas of high endemism. Next Keith Barnes, one of the founders of Tropical Birding, discussed "Getting them all and getting them now: logistics of birding the world." Keith outlined the best strategies for seeing the most birds for your buck and undoubtedly had many thinking about their next big trip. Our third presentation was given by John Kricher, ever the good sport and a most entertaining speaker. John discussed avian biogeography in the Andes and showed how altitude and microhabitat shifts make for one of the most complex and diverse bioregions in the world. This helps explain why the birding is so good in Ecuador. On Wednesday night, Paul Greenfield looked a bit further into Ecuadorian bird tourism and suggested that we are making a difference toward conservation just by visiting. When there is an economic benefit to local communities for protecting bird habitat and offering amenities to visitors, both the birds and the local people win. On the final evening, Josep del Hoyo discussed the history of developing the seminal set of world bird books in his "Handbook to Birds of the World" as well as discussing the Internet Bird Collection that allows everyone to contribute photos or videos to the record.

To further strengthen the ideas espoused on by Paul's talk, the ABA and Swarovski Optik combined resources to make $25,000 donations to each of our two conservation recipients: Mindo Cloudforest Foundation and Fundación Jocotoco. Mindo Cloudforest Foundation (MCF), a non-profit Ecudorian NGO, manages the reserve at Milpe and works toward conservation in the Chocó bioregion of NW Ecuador. MCF developed a national strategy for bird tourism that includes the establishment of various Ecorutas, or scenic birding trails designed to bring to light the best Ecuadorian birding areas. Fundación Jocotoco is an Ecuadorian organization that purchases critical land and manages it as private ecological reserves. Presently eight reserves totaling 20,000 acres are protected ranging across Ecudaor from the southern border with Peru to the northwestern Chocó region, including the Yanacocha reserve. Hopefully, these donations will go a long way toward further bird conservation and reserve establishment in Ecuador.

The Quito Conference was also heaven for the photographer. The staff at Tropical Birding ventured to group most of the serious photographers together for the field trips. Many were able to take some amazing photos, especially after learning digiscoping tips from the masters at Swarovski. Gerald Dobler held a digiscoping workshop on the afternoon of the Antisana trip and showed how a good scope and adapter can lead to amazing photos with even the most modest of digital cameras. ABA will be collecting photos from attendees that wish to share their wares for an on-line photo feature. Please submit photos by e-mail to Chip Clouse at and include your name, photo subject or title and any additional information you would like to include. This will also allow those that couldn't make it to see what they missed and hopefully clear their calendars for the next international conference.

From the birds, to the speakers, to the 5-star accommodations and comfortable transportation, the 2007 International ABA Conference in Quito was a resounding success. Many of the truly amazing guides secured by Tropical Birding were either former ABA Young Birders or Birders' Exchange recipients or interns, further proof that these programs continue to flourish with your support and donations. Iain Campbell, Keith Barnes and the fine staff at Tropical Birding deserve a huge hand for successfully hosting such an event along with strong support from the conference sponsor, Swarovski Optik. Gerald, Christian, and Erika not only provided their outstanding products for use by the guides but were available to show many attendees their innovative product designs for birding and digiscoping. Partnerships such as these will continue to fuel future non-ABA area conferences. We hope that you will be able to join us for other international conferences. I think we could promise most everyone at least a lifer or two! I had 198!

– Chip Clouse
Conventions and Tours Assistant Manager