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One of the stars of the show for us, a fantastic Rufous-breasted Antthrush! (Photo by guide Willy Perez)

Another wonderful Jewels, my fourth since I joined with Field Guides, and fascinating as ever with many new and different things to see. What else would you expect in a country like Ecuador that provides all kinds of microclimates, and all kinds of terrain and elevation?

The Catamayo valley typically dry most of the year, was green and wet, and many birds of the Tumbesian region were very active. Areas of Podocarpus National Park (Cajanuma and Bombuscaro) with very easy access were full of the most colorful tanagers. Cajas National Park in Cuenca is the most distinctive birding spot for paramo in Ecuador, and this time was fantastic yet again. And in the north, Silanche was the most active place for birds in the all trip (even with a bit of rain). The birding was great during the whole tour.

There were a lot unpredictable highlights that make this trip special:

--64 species of Hummingbirds, the true Jewels, were fantastic, but let's mention the ones that were, well, WOW: Wire-crested Thorntail (the male), Sword-billed Hummingbird, Violet-tailed Sylph, and Rainbow Starfrontlet;

--the Gray Tinamou that came to eat corn at Copalinga -- shocking!

--the last-minute two Band-bellied Owls that came to the dining room just before breakfast at Copalinga;

--the pair of Giant Conebills digging under the bark of Polylepis trees in Cajas that stayed there forever were unique;

--the Crimson-bellied Woodpecker at Milpe was a good surprise;

--the tower at Silanche was the right place to see some of the Choco endemics -- t was very active, with such beauties as Gray-and-gold, Scarlet-browed, and Blue-whiskered tanagers;

--Angel Paz working his magic once again, with several male Cocks-of-the-rock displaying at the lek, followed by Giant, Yellow-breasted, Chestnut-crowned, and Ochre-breasted Antpittas; the family of Dark-backed Wood-Quail ( with 3 little chicks) that come to eat the bananas; and to finished the show, Rufous-breasted Antthrush and Ocellated Tapaculo that came to eat the worms;

--the crazy flock the day we moved down along the Loja-Zamora road, with unique tanagers like Vermilion, Blue-browed, Golden-eared, Flame-faced and Golden filling our afternoon with colors;

--the 3 species of mountain-toucans on the tour, with Black-billed and Plate-billed the best.

Another highlight of the tour, of course, was all of you who came along on the trip! You helped make the tour for me, and that, thank you! I hope that I will see you birding somewhere again soon. And, in closing, a special thank you to Edgar, our super driver who knows how to deal with his bus and the Ecuadorian roads!

Keep birding,

--Willy

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

Totals for the tour: 529 bird taxa and 5 mammal taxa