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This handsome male Peruvian Warbling Antbird hopped into view at the ACTS lodge. He was so cooperative that he was voted one of the birds of the trip, rather unusual status for an antbird! Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Our visit into one of the richest portions of the Amazon really drove home the ultra-diverse nature of the region (certainly with regards to its avifauna!). The Amazon basin has drawn explorers and biologists for centuries in the hopes that they might understand the mystery of why it is so diverse. That is no less true today than it was in the late 1700s! As Gregg can tell you, the modern era of explorers includes folks such as Ted Parker (in whose shadow we were while at Explornapo… a site called “Sucusari” thirty years ago, when Ted worked there), and Field Guides’ own Bret Whitney.

It’s hard to explain how the diversity of the region occurred, but the general idea is that, while most of the Earth’s landmasses have moved around and gone through periods of tropical and temperate climates, the Amazon has remained tropical for much of its history. The Amazon never experienced glaciation, and scientists think that extensive humid tropical forests have remained in basically the same spots as they are today. This allowed the organisms living within them a long period of stasis during which they could specialize.

That’s not to say that the Amazon hasn't been affected by the global climate shifts and tectonic changes that affected the rest of the planet. Amazon forests have expanded and contracted over the eons, the Andes rose in the past five million years, changing the course of the rivers that drained the basin, and the sea in the western part of the basin eventually drained and left behind a huge tract of swampy forest and pockets of sandy soils. With the rise of the young Andes, rich sediments were carried down and deposited along the banks of the rivers that drained the mountains.

This patchwork of old, weathered sands (such as in the Allpahuayo-Mishana Reserve or AMR), clays (up at ACTS lodge), and rich alluvial soils (such as around Explorama and Explornapo lodges) produces one of the phenomena we saw on our tour: different “terra firme” (non-flooding) forest types that translate into different communities of birds. Add to these the flooding forests, known as “varzea” where the “whitewater” rivers invaded the forest, and “igapo” where tannin-laden waters flooded forests along backwaters away from the Andes-draining rivers. Then, there are the islands that were either created from sediments that settled along the river channels, or carved off bends when the channels shifted. As we saw, each of these habitats held different assemblages of birds, and taken together—voila!—you have the incredible diversity of the Amazon! That’s a bit simplistic, but you get the idea…

We began our visit with a brief dusk boat outing on the Rio Nanay, one of the blackwater rivers that passes by Iquitos, where we saw Band-tailed Nighthawk, a species that specializes on such blackwater courses. Then, a morning in a varillal (white sand forest) gave us our first look at forest interior habitats in the area. But once we changed to the floodplain forests near Explorama and the more clay-based soils at Explornapo and ACTS lodges, we started to become aware of the differing structures these forests take based on soil and fluvial regimes. As our ability to detect microhabitats improved, we discovered that these play a huge role in maintaining the high diversity within the region! Even on river islands, we noticed that different ages of islands play a big role in what birds are present. It can be overwhelming, but at the same time, I find it to be exhilarating to know that comprehending all of this may yet be a bit beyond human ability!

Among the over 350 species of birds we encountered, several really made a mark on our memories. The two which seemed to be ranked favorites were neither gaudy nor easy to see: the skulky Zigzag Heron was one, and rightly so! What a great experience to have a bird respond near dusk and eventually show itself to us from inside a flooded shrub! The Pale-billed Hornero was another, and it was one of my most wanted birds in the area. Happily, Luis knew where to go for it, and he managed to find a territory of a bird that did not hide from us! What a treat! Other great memories were our hike out to see two roosting Nocturnal Curassows (again, thanks to Luis’ hard work with his curassow hunters), the distant, but no less majestic Crested Eagle we enjoyed from the platform along the canopy walkway. Several antbirds ranked high on the list, which is unusual: Peruvian Warbling-Antbird and Allpahuayo Antbird both ranked thanks to giving us such great views. The Black-crested Antshrike, one of our last new species of the tour, was another favorite. That Brown-banded Puffbird, Common Potoo, and Orange-eyed Flycatcher were among the top picks of the group suggests we weren’t folks whose attention is easily grabbed by shiny things! These are quality birds, whose rarity and history make them as prized a sighting as the most colorful tanager. I can appreciate that! I’m only sorry nothing with “tyrannulet” in the name made it to the semi-finals. Oh well.

It was a pleasure to share the experiences we enjoyed on this tour with you, and I hope that you will come back again (and again!) to see more in Peru and other parts of South America with me…. There is still so much yet to see! Meanwhile, don’t put them binoculars away! Keep ‘em close at hand, because you never know…

Good birding,

Dan

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

Participants David and Judy Smith got this great image of a Yellow-browed Tody-Flycatcher. What a cutie!

We saw this Common Potoo on one of our boating trips on the Sucusari. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

Ferruginous Pygmy-owl is common in much of South America. We saw this one at Allpahuayo Mishana Reserve. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

We had a great look at this Black-fronted Nunbird looking proud of its hunting prowess! Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

This is just part of the large congregation of migrant Southern Martins we saw along the Nanay. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

Black-mantle Tamarin about to go bananas at Explornapo. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

A Ringed Kingfisher, waiting for prey. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

We saw this dainty Pied Lapwing along the Napo. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

This "nigriceps" Lemon-throated Barbet visited us in our canopy platform tree. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

"I can't take another day in here!" thinks this Lineated Woodpecker. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

We found Bicolored Conebill on Isla Yarina, one of the young river islands we visited. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

We saw this beautifully colored Paradise Jacamar in a tree at ACTS. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

What is now known as Fuscous Flycatcher is probably several different species. This individual is one of the river-island types. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Wayne, Gregg, and Dan about to return to boots after walking the canopy walkway in more comfortable footware. Photo by participant Gregg Gorton.

Monkeying is hard work! A tuckered Squirrel Monkey at Explornapo. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

This lovely White-chinned Jacamar posed nicely for us at Explornapo. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

We saw Yellow-rumped Cacique from the ACTS walkway. Photo by participants David and Judy Smith.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Eel eating snake (Pseudoeryx plicatilis): the large flat snake we saw by the boat landing at Explorama Lodge.

Totals for the tour: 360 bird taxa and 8 mammal taxa