MACHU PICCHU & ABRA MALAGA, PERUSouthern Peru's east-slope, temperate birding at its best, featuring lots of endemics and scenic Andean puna; also Machu Picchu and great subtropical birding on and near lovely hotel grounds.
$4375 (2008 fee). 12 days See our triplist for 2007 (first tour) or 2006 (first tour) or 2006 (second tour) or 2005 (second tour).
As if the ruins alone were not worth the visit, the subtropical slopes and the narrow gorge below are surprisingly good for birds. We regularly see such knockouts as Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Highland Motmot, Lyre-tailed Nightjar, White-eared Solitaire, Inga trees full of hummingbirds (including the endemic Green-and-white), numerous vivid tanagers (including the scarce Silver-backed), and the endemic Masked Fruiteater. The bamboo around Machu Picchu itself is, fittingly, one of the best places to see the endemic Inca Wren, and a morning’s birding along the tracks below the ruins usually results in a pleasing variety of species, often punctuated by Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Golden-headed Quetzal, or the occasional Versicolored Barbet. Our base for working both sides of the eastern cordillera will be a lovely country hotel in the Urubamba Valley. From here we’ll make early departures for the high pass along the trace that crosses the Andes on its way to Quillabamba in the Amazonian lowlands. Abra Malaga, at 14,200 feet, is the low point along a ridge of rugged peaks; buffering the upper limits of these habitats is the starkly beautiful puna grassland dotted with llamas, alpacas, and the very occasional cluster of stone houses, corrals, and fences erected by Quechua-speaking families who are somehow accustomed to prospering in what seems to most visitors an inhospitable environment. The bird life includes many species endemic to a small geographic area in southern Peru or limited to southern Peru and nearby Bolivia. Peruvian endemics we’re likely to see include Bearded Mountaineer, White-tufted Sunbeam, Coppery-naped Puffleg, White-browed Tit-Spinetail, Puna Thistletail, Marcapata and Creamy-crested spinetails, Rusty-fronted and Junin canasteros, Unstreaked and Ash-breasted tit-tyrants, Parodi’s Hemispingus, Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch, and Cusco Brush-Finch. But this wonderful tour is also distinguished by a wealth of birds that aren’t strictly endemics but are seldom seen elsewhere, prizes such as Andean Ibis, Gould’s Inca, Line-fronted Canastero, Stripe-headed Antpitta (one of the few antpittas easily seen once found), Diademed Tapaculo, Three-striped Hemispingus, and Golden-collared Tanager. A day along the Lima coast to begin the tour sets the relaxed pace and makes likely Great Grebe, Peruvian Thick-knee, Inca Tern, Humboldt Penguin, and many other coastal species, including two more endemics, the ghostly Coastal Miner and Peruvian Seaside Cinclodes.
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