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One of the many incredible montane tanagers to be seen in Peru's north: a snazzy Grass-green Tanager. (Photo by guide Dan Lane)

Northern Peru has been the scene of some pretty exciting ornithological discoveries in the past several decades. In addition to already being home to one of the world’s most unusual hummingbirds—the Marvelous Spatuletail—the region has also had more than a dozen new species described since about 1950, with several more awaiting their formal introduction to science! What’s more, many of these birds are found along our route in the departments of Amazonas and San Martin.

We started out by flying in to the “jungle city” of Tarapoto from Lima… as different as night and day! Happily, we got there early enough to be able to do some mid-morning birding in a small patch of semi-deciduous forest at a site called Quebrada Upaquihua, south of the city. Within the first half-hour, we managed to see the Mishana Tyrannulet (recently described), Chestnut-throated Spinetail, and White-flanked Antwren (of an as-yet-unnamed form), as well as several other birds that are more typical of a Bolivian avifauna than Peruvian. Passing a roosting island for Comb Ducks, we stopped and counted an astonishing 548, blowing my earlier high counts clear out of the water! From there, we drove to Moyobamba (after a cold drink and maybe some ice cream) where we spent our first night. The following morning, we continued birding an area I find particularly exciting because of the possibilities: the Mayo valley. We spent most of the morning in the communal reserve of Morro de Calzada, where a unique “campina rupestre” type habitat has more “Bolivian” birds such as Spot-tailed Nightjar and Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant, as well as many tanagers, tyrants, and the occasional barbet, aracari, and saltator to liven up breakfast in the field! A hike into the forest nearby gained us several more birds typical of lowland Amazonia. Some more stops in open marsh and agricultural land netted us some surprises: Pale-eyed Blackbird (which may not have been seen in this area since the ‘70s… and was described around then, too!) and Black-billed Seed-finch were top of the list. Then a drive up into the mountains to arrive at our lodging at the rustic, but comfortable, Owlet Lodge.

The next few days were spent in the higher elevations of the Owlet Lodge, as well as a couple of stints down into the subtropical zone around Afluente where we enjoyed a different avifauna. This area has pretty incredible birding, and on top of that, the scenery is pretty nice, too! We enjoyed seeing showy birds such as Royal Sunangel (another bird only recently described), Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, White-collared Jay, Grass-green Tanager, among others. Birds with more muted colors were in the ranks, too: Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant, Rufous Spinetail, Pearled Treerunner, and a surprise Olive Finch. Mixed-species flocks of tanagers played beside the road, and we gawked at their beauty. We also enjoyed the fruit-stealing Tayra that came to the feeder at the lodge, and the memorable morning when we enjoyed a White-capped Tanager family followed shortly thereafter by a skulky Chestnut Antpitta hopping about in the open to eat earthworms! There was too much to see, but we enjoyed all of it!

A leap over to Florida de Pomacochas, where we stayed at the “Ghost Motel” (complete with real mummy and bizarre paintings) allowed us the chance to visit the feeders at Huembo where clouds of violetears (both Green and Sparkling) occasionally were tempered by other hummingbirds, including our main target: Marvelous Spatuletail! One male came in several times and got a gasp out of us each time! Some other birds in the Utcubamba valley sweetened the pot, as well. Our local guide Santos told us about the trail by San Lorenzo (called the Chido Trail by most, perhaps better called the “Chido Trial”?), and assured us that it was “not too bad”… well, it certainly was steep and long, but for those who decided to walk to the Pale-billed Antpitta spot, there were some rewards. Even for those who turned back early, views of Red-hooded Tanager, Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia, and a few other choice morsels were excellent additions! Taking the rest of the day off to recover seemed like a good idea at the time… especially because of the plan for the following day…

Our last full day we decided to start early, and try *one last time* for that most mythical of beasts: Long-whiskered Owlet (yet another recently described species… and perhaps the most tantalizing of them all!). Our man Aurelio had told us of a fairly new trail where the bird was fairly easy, so we decided to give it a try… and, oh man, what a result! We not only enjoyed nearly 10 minutes of viewing of this stellar little owl, but then a Cinnamon Screech-Owl AND a pair of Ochre-fronted Antpittas (*also* recently described!) doing their little twist dances on their perches! Could the day get better? Well, we enjoyed more flocks around Afluente, then stopped at the feeders at Waqanki, before finally heading to Tarapoto. It was a long, but very satisfying, day! Our final morning was spent up on the Cordillera Escalera road, where we enjoyed some more foothills birds. Perhaps the crowning view of the morning was the pair of Plumbeous Euphonias that showed well for us on that little ridge by the road!

All in all, it was a great tour… and reinforced that Peru is a great birding country! I hope you all agree, and Pepe and I hope to see you all again in the near future, perhaps in Peru again, to share more birding adventures! Meanwhile, keep them binoculars handy!

Good birding to all,

--Dan Lane

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Bat sp. - several.

Poison dart frog (Epidobates trivittatus) - the colorful green and black frog that Pepe caught on the Escalera.

Totals for the tour: 425 bird taxa and 7 mammal taxa