For our tour description, itinerary, past triplists, dates, fees, and more, please VISIT OUR TOUR PAGE.

See this triplist in printable PDF format with media only on page 1.

One of the most-wanted birds of the tour was the Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager. This Peruvian endemic is found in a small area of high forest in the eastern Peruvian Andes, including Bosque Unchog. We had great looks at this beauty at a spot very near our camp. Photo by guide Dave Stejskal.

Field Guides has been guiding birding tours to Peru since our inception. Indeed, the first tour ever run at Field Guides back in June of 1985 was to Peru! Since then, we've set up quite a number of diverse offerings to this wonderful, rich country over the years, from the border with Ecuador in the north, south to the Bolivian border, and east into the wilds of western Amazonia. Our most popular offerings seem to be in the northern Andes and the southern Andes (think Marvelous Spatuletail/Long-whiskered Owlet and Machu Picchu/Abra Malaga), but the the vast central Andes region has been relatively neglected all of these years. This expansive region in Peru (in Ancash, Huánuco, Pasco, and Junín departments) holds a high percentage of the total number of Peruvian endemics, a number of which can't be seen anywhere else in the world! But you've really got to want to see these birds in the intensely scenic, high Andean settings where they're found, in order to get through the high elevation hiking, camping (only two nights), and cold temperatures that are endemic to this itinerary. The physical demands of this tour necessitate our offering it less than annually. 2018 was the first time that we've run this tour in several years and, for me at least, it was certainly worth the wait!

Looking back at our tour together, I've come to the realization that I would retrace our steps on this tour for the scenery alone. Parque Nacional Huascarán was far more dramatic and beautiful than I had imagined. Even a couple of months removed from the trip, my mind is still swimming with our vistas of the Cordillera Blanca and the alpine habitats that surround it. And I doubt that I've been anywhere more beautiful than the Bosque Unchog area in Huánuco. The landscapes of Junín were only slightly less impressive.

Amidst these breathtaking places were the birds. Our time in Huascarán brought us a number of seldom-seen specialties, maybe foremost among them the local and scarce endemic White-cheeked Cotinga – which we saw incredibly well! Other birds in this park including such endemics as Black Metaltail, Ancash Tapaculo, Striated Earthcreeper, Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail, Plain-tailed Warbling-Finch, Rufous-backed Inca-Finch, and Rufous-eared Brushfinch. Non-endemics like Stripe-headed Antpitta, Giant Conebill, and Tit-like Dacnis added to our thorough enjoyment of this park.

Huánuco Department promised a lot of richness and diversity, and it delivered, despite some degradation to some of the accessible habitats that we visited. Our two days in the famous Carpish Tunnel/Paty Trail area on the eastern slope of the Andes east of the city really boosted our triplist – it was the first forest that we birded on the tour that wasn't Polylepis! Birds were plentiful, and we enjoyed some nice flock encounters, especially at the start of the Paty Trail. We picked up a few more Central Peru endemics in the form of Bay and Chestnut antpittas, and Tschudi's and Rufous-vented tapaculos, Peruvian Tyrannulet, Unstreaked Tit-Tyrant, Inca Flycatcher, Peruvian Wren, and Yellow-scarfed Tanager. Then it was on to Bosque Unchog.

After seeing a Maricopa Audubon Society chapter program on the birds of Bosque Unchog presented by Ted Parker back when I was in high school in Phoenix in the 70's, I vowed that I had to get to this remote location in Peru to see those birds. It took me over 40 years to get here, but I certainly wasn't disappointed! We had close to two full days to hike the main trail and look for the several special birds found here, and I think we did quite well. Our one full day was excellent, scoring on Pardusco, Bay-vented Cotinga, and the stunning Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager in the same flock a couple of kilometers from our base camp! A short morning hike after breakfast produced our only brief looks of the rare Rufous-browed Hemispingus (or Mountain-Finch, actually) before we had to pack up camp and depart.

Junín Department was our last major venue of the tour and the clear highlight during our stay was Critically Endangered Junín Grebe. A larger boat than what we've used in the past certainly made this trip onto the lake more enjoyable for everyone – and so did a hot breakfast (with bacon!) back on shore once we landed again! We saw quite a bit in addition to the grebe in this high Andean basin, but nothing more memorable than our pre-dawn encounter with the local endemic race of Black Rail! Our trip back to Lima the following day was punctuated with endemics like Dark-winged Miner, White-bellied Cinclodes, and Junín Canastero as well as the likes of Diademed Sandpiper-Plover (with chicks!) and Gray-breasted Seedsnipe.

Our final full day was a welcome contrast to the chilly, thin air of the mountains when we visited Lomas de Lachay and the beautiful coastal environs of Paraiso north of Lima. A pair of Surf Cinclodes at the latter site provided our final Peruvian endemic!

With all of the high-elevation birding and hiking, chilly temps, plus a couple of nights of outfitted high-elevation camping at Bosque Unchog (can you really imagine doing it any other way?!), this great tour qualifies as one of our most 'adventurous' offerings in South America. The 'adventure' was undeniably mitigated by the attention and hard work of our doting cooking/driving crew, to whom we should all be eternally grateful! Dan and I are also grateful to all of you who signed up for this special tour. We had a lot of fun birding and traveling with all of you, sharing all of that wonderful scenery and those birding memories of this seldom-visited sector of Peru. We hope that we can share another fabulous birding tour experience with all of you soon! Cheers, Dave

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

White-cheeked Cotinga is another endemic that we saw very well! Photo by participant Greg Griffith.

The Bosque Unchog area was the site of some memorable birds, plus some high-elevation camping! Guide Dan Lane got this evocative panorama featuring our camp and the surrounding landscape.

Our group taking in the view at Carpish. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

This Stripe-headed Antpitta, seen in Huascaran, has a rather coy expression, but the bird was anything but shy! We got wonderful looks at this little cutie. Photo by guide Dave Stejskal.

We found this endemic Bay-vented Cotinga at Bosque Unchog. Photo by participant Greg Griffith.

The Critically Endangered Junin Grebe was one of our last major sightings; we saw it well during a boat trip on the lake. It was exciting for all, but especially for Jim, who completed his list of the world's grebes with this one. Photo by guide Dave Stejskal.

Andean Tinamou was easy to see at Lomas de Lachay, much to the surprise of your guides! Photo by participant Greg Griffith.

We were priviledged to bird in some of the world's most impressive landscapes. Here, guide Dan Lane captures a view in Parque Nacional Huascaran.

A Buff-breasted Earthcreeper posed nicely for participant Greg Griffith.

We saw this Short-eared Owl as we approached Lago Junin early one morning. Photo by guide Dave Stejskal.

Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant is found along the western Andean slope of Peru; we saw this one very well near Lima on our first day of birding together. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Guide Dave Stejskal got this lovely portrait of a Crested Duck in flight at Lago Junin.

We had a great day in the Carpish Tunnel/ Paty Trail area. Participant Greg Griffith took this shot when we stopped for lunch.

Our first Line-fronted Canastero did not co-operate well, but this one we found down the trail certainly did! We found these near-endemics at Bosque Unchog. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

One of the first Puna Snipes that we saw was right next to the bus in Huascaran NP. Photo by participant Greg Griffith.

Puya raimondii is a large bromeliad native to the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. These impressive plants can reach up to 13 meters in height! Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Surf Cinclodes was our last endemic of the trip; we found a pair at Paraiso on the coast. Photo by participant Greg Griffith.

Tit-like Dacnis was a common bird in the higher elevations of PN Huascaran. Photo by guide Dave Stejskal.

We saw a few Giant Coots at some of the high-elevation lakes. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Here is our group, searching for the endemic Cactus Canastero in the spiny cactus habitat of the Pacific slope. Photo by participant Greg Griffith.

Peruvian Thick-knees were seen along the entrance road to Lomas de Lachay. Photo by guide Dave Stejskal.

Many of the landscapes we saw were very dramatic, such as this Huascaran panaorama captured by guide Dan Lane.

Flame-faced Tanager was one of the more colorful species that we saw; this one posed along the Paty Trail. Photo by guide Dave Stejskal.

This Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant was seen briefly in Huascaran NP; it was one of five tit-tyrants that we saw on the tour. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

This Streak-throated Canastero posed well for us in Huascaran NP. Photo by guide Dave Stejskal.

One of only a few mammals that we noted, this Northern Mountain Vizcacha was observed in Huascaran NP. Photo by participant Greg Griffith.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 315 bird taxa and 4 mammal taxa