June 24-July 3, 2026 with Dan Lane
It is not a secret that the prime tourist destination in Peru is Machu Picchu (or MaPi, as locals call it)! The ruins are perched on a ridge that offer an awe-inspiring view that stays with you and really makes the place worthwhile. Happily, the ruins also happen to be in a rather birdy part of the country and thus make for a really nice week-long birding trip… so off we went! The tour started in Lima, and after our flight to the city of Cusco, former capital of the Incan empire, we headed down to the marshes and lakes of Huacarpay. Thence, we headed down the Urubamba River through the sacred valley with a stop at Sacred Garden for the elegant Bearded Mountaineer, and then on to our lodge in the town of Ollantaytambo. The following day, we boarded the train down to Aguas Calientes, our jumping-off point to head up to the ruins of Machu Picchu and drink in the magic of the site! After a fine lunch by the ruins, we headed down to our luxurious hotel in the valley below. Our third day found us walking along the railroad bed down to the Mandor Valley, birding mixed-species flocks along the way. We returned to Ollantaytambo the next day. The next three days were spent exploring both the near (dry) and far (wet) slopes of Abra Malaga—the pass separating Ollantaytambo from the lower valley of the Urubamba River—with the magnificent Nevado Veronica overseeing all who cross the pass! Our third morning here involved our hike up into the highest elevations of the tour as we visited the Polylepis woodland in search of species that are specialists of the habitat. That afternoon, we headed back to Cusco, making stops at Ensifera Camp hummingbird garden, a nice buffet restaurant for lunch, and the shore of Lake Piuray before arriving at our nice hotel in the city. Some folks did a tour of the colonial part of the city with our local guide Razi before we flew back to Lima and ended the tour.
When I asked what our best memories of the tour were, the top one was (drum roll): the ruins at MaPi… no surprises there! The culture and culinary experiences we had were a close second. But behind those were the birds! And we had a nice selection of stars that were burned into our minds. These ranged from the iconic Andean Condor that we enjoyed watching as it sailed around the slopes above Maxima’s restaurant, to the attractive Versicolored Barbet that caught our attention in a mixed flock below Aguas Calientes, to the less colorful Tufted Tit-Tyrant that was nevertheless wowed us with its moxy. The walk along the tracks below Aguas Calientes also netted us Golden-headed Quetzal, Andean Motmot, Black-and-chestnut Eagle, and our faithful canine escort team. Our birding on the humid slope of Abra Malaga added the stunning Plushcap, Red-crested Cotinga, and the uncommon Three-striped Hemispingus to the list of memorables. And finally, someone wanted to remind us that they enjoyed conversing with the ever-ebullient Barry Walker once we returned to Cusco—always a worthwhile sighting!
Machu Picchu is perhaps the most effective “gateway drug” to birding in Peru, but there is much more to this amazing and varied country. I hope that you will consider returning to visit another corner with me in the future to see what other gems there are to be seen here! Meanwhile, keep them binoculars close at hand and good birding to you all!
Mammals observed on the tour:
Bolivian Squirrel (Sciurus ignitus)
I enjoyed sharing the birds of this place with you, and hope to be in the field with you again soon!
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/547013
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/abm26TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Dan Lane (the Barbet)