Peru Bird Checklists

Between them these 15 lists cover more than 416 species and 19 Peruvian endemics — the full sweep of central-Peru birdlife within a day trip of the capital. Looking for where to see a particular bird near Lima? The fog-oasis of Lomas de Lachayholds four coastal endemics — Coastal Miner, Thick-billed Miner, Cactus Canastero and Raimondi's Yellow-Finch — with Least Seedsnipe and Tawny-throated Dotterel on the desert flats. The wetlands of Pantanos de Villa and the Humedales de Ventanilla are the place for marsh specialists like the coastal Black Rail, Many-colored Rush Tyrant, Wren-like Rushbird, Least Bittern and Plumbeous Rail, alongside Chilean Flamingo, grebes and a long roll of migratory shorebirds. On the coast at Pucusana the Humboldt Current delivers Inca Tern, Peruvian Booby, Guanay and Red-legged Cormorants, Peruvian Pelican, the endemic Surf Cinclodes and even Humboldt Penguin — and the boat trips offshore add the seabirds of the open ocean. The short mini-pelagic brings Peruvian Diving-Petrel, storm-petrels and shearwaters over the upwelling, while the full offshore pelagicday reaches five albatrosses (Waved, Salvin's, Buller's, Chatham and Black-browed), Cook's and Galápagos Petrels, Southern Fulmar, South Polar Skua and Sabine's Gull. The desert scrub of the Azpitia Valley adds doves, Amazilia and Oasis Hummingbirds, Long-tailed Mockingbird and dry-country seedeaters. Right by the airport, the La Punta peninsula and the coastal lagoon of Poza de La Arenillapull in Lima's migratory shorebirds — Andean Avocet, Hudsonian Godwit, phalaropes and Peruvian Thick-knee — while the boat trip to San Lorenzo and the Palomino Islands adds guano-island seabirds, Humboldt Penguins and a huge sea-lion colony. Inland, the dry Andean canyon of Santa Eulalia— the road below 2,700 m — is the place for central Peru's inter-Andean endemics: Great Inca-Finch, Bronze-tailed Comet, Black-necked Woodpecker, Black Metaltail, Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail and Thick-billed Miner, with Torrent Duck on the river and Andean Condor overhead. Higher still, the 2-day tour climbs into the upper valley and its Polylepis woodland for White-cheeked Cotinga, then up to the Marcapomacocha and Ticlio bogs at 4,000–4,800 m for the critically endangered White-bellied Cinclodes, Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Dark-winged Miner and Junín Canastero. Further into the puna, the great high-Andean lake of Junín (Chinchaycocha)holds two of Peru's rarest endemics — the near-flightless Junín Grebe and the Junín Rail — with rafts of Andean waterfowl, Giant Coot and more Diademed Sandpiper-Plovers.

High above Cusco, the Sacred Valley of the Incas is one of the great birding landscapes of southern Peru, and our day tours thread its many habitats. Between them these 8 lists hold more than 667 species and 14 Peruvian endemics. The cloud-forest hummingbird sanctuary above Yanahuara— the ‘Ensifera’ camp — is named for the Sword-billed Hummingbird, the only bird on earth with a bill longer than its body, and its feeders draw the endemic Bearded Mountaineer, White-tufted Sunbeam and Green-and-white Hummingbird, with Undulated Antpitta and Chestnut-breasted Mountain Finch at the forest edge. On the valley floor the Río Vilcanota at Pachar and Ollantaytambo holds Torrent Duck and Torrent Tyrannulet in the rapids, with the endemic Inca Wren, Cuzco Brushfinch, Creamy-crested and Marcapata Spinetails in the gardens, scrub and Inca ruins. And the highland lake of Piuray above Chinchero fills with Andean Goose, Puna Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail, Slate-colored Coot and Chilean Flamingo, with Puna Ibis and Andean Flicker on the surrounding puna. Higher and wilder, the legendary road over Abra Málaga climbs from humid cloud forest and Chusquea bamboo through Polylepis woodland to the 4,316 m pass, and we split it into three checklists by elevation — the lower cloud forest, the upper forest and treeline, and the high Polylepis, pass and puna. Together they add the critically endangered Royal Cinclodes, the endemic White-browed Tit-Spinetail, Marcapata Spinetail, Masked Fruiteater and Yellow-scarfed Tanager, on one of the richest day-lists in the Andes. And down the Urubamba gorge, the cloud forest of the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary— split here into a lower gorge list and a citadel list — brings Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Golden-headed Quetzal, Torrent Duck and White-capped Dipper alongside the endemic Inca Wren and Masked Fruiteater, birding the world's most famous ruin.

Four hours south of Lima, the desert runs straight into the cold Humboldt Current, and the result is one of the richest stretches of coast in South America. Between them these 4 lists hold more than 253 species and 6 south-coast endemics. The Reserva Nacional de Paracas— Peru's oldest marine reserve — wraps a bay of mudflats, salt lagoons and wind-scoured beaches where Chilean and Andean Flamingos, the endangered Peruvian Tern, oystercatchers, Peruvian Thick-knee and thousands of migratory shorebirds gather, with the endemic Coastal and Thick-billed Miners, Surf Cinclodes, Slender-billed Finch and Raimondi's Yellow-Finch. Offshore, the boat trip to the Ballestas Islands— ‘Peru's Galápagos’ — runs through rafts of Peruvian Booby, Guanay and Red-legged Cormorants, Inca Tern, Humboldt Penguin and Peruvian Diving-Petrel. Inland, the Pisco and Caucato wetlands add reedbed and delta birds, and the desert oases and huarango forest around Ica hold the endemic Black-necked Woodpecker, Vermilion Flycatcher, Oasis Hummingbird and Peruvian Sheartail in a sea of dunes.

Deep in the central Andes, on the little-travelled roads between Junín and Huánuco, lies one of the densest concentrations of range-restricted endemics anywhere in Peru. Between them these 4 lists hold more than 588 species and 19 Peruvian endemics. The Satipo Road — the Concepción–Satipo highway — tumbles off the puna through elfin woodland and cloud forest for the endemic Fire-throated Metaltail, Eye-ringed Thistletail, the recently described Junín Tapaculo and Black-spectacled Brushfinch. North of Lake Junín, above Acomayo, the mossy elfin forest of Bosque Unchog is one of the great names in Neotropical birding: the spectacular Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager shares its treeline with Bay-vented Cotinga, Pardusco, Coppery Metaltail and Rufous-browed Hemispingus. And on the Huánuco–Tingo María road the cloud forest of the Carpish tunnel and the Paty Trail add mixed flocks of mountain-tanagers, hummingbirds and furnariids by the hundred. These are the crown jewels of our Central Peru Birding Circuit.

The Manu Road — the Kosñipata valley descent from the Acjanaco pass into Manu National Park — is one of the most bird-diverse roads on Earth, and we split it into four checklists by elevation so each is manageable in the field. Between them they hold more than 909 species and 14 Peruvian endemics. At the top, the Acjanaco pass and treeline bring high-Andes birds like the endemic White-tufted Sunbeam and Chestnut-breasted Mountain Finch; the upper cloud forest of Pillahuata and Wayqecha is the endemic-rich core (Marcapata Spinetail, Cuzco Brushfinch, Inca Wren); the Rocotal belt adds mid-elevation tanagers and hummingbirds; and lower down, San Pedro and its famous Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek open onto the Amazon slope.

The cloud forests and foothills of Amazonas and San Martín are the richest endemic birding on the continent — the heart of any Northern Peru circuit. Between them these 5 lists hold more than 910 species and 16 Peruvian endemics. The legendary cloud forest of Abra Patricia and the Owlet Lodgeis home to the tiny Long-whiskered Owlet — found nowhere else on Earth — with the Royal Sunangel, Ochre-fronted and Rusty-tinged Antpittas, Speckle-chested Piculet and Johnson's Tody-Flycatcher. Nearby, the feeders of Huembo are the reliable home of the Marvelous Spatuletail, the racket-tailed hummingbird found only in this valley. And down in the San Martín foothills the hummingbird gardens of Waqanki, near Moyobamba, add Rufous-crested Coquette, the endemic Painted Manakin, Ash-throated Antwren and Koepcke's Hermit among an enormous foothill list.

Ecuador packs the highest bird diversity per square kilometre on Earth into a few hours' drive of Quito. Between them these 5 day-tour lists cover more than 680 species. The Chocó cloud forest of Tandayapa & Mindo alone runs to hundreds of birds — toucans, cock-of-the-rock and antpittas — while Yanacocha holds a wall of high-Andean hummingbirds including the Ecuador-endemic Black-breasted Puffleg. Antisana and Papallacta & Guango cover the páramo and eastern slope, and the dry valley of Jerusalén adds an arid-country list all its own.

Central Chile is the place for the country's endemics, all within a short drive of Santiago. These 5 day-tour lists mark 7 Chilean endemics — Moustached Turca, Chilean Tinamou, the tapaculos and the near-endemic Crag Chilia among them. La Campana is the endemics site; El Yeso holds the coveted Diademed Sandpiper-Plover in its high bogs; Farellones covers the high cordillera, Batuco the wetland birds, and the Concón & Quintay coast the Humboldt Current seabirds.