2-Day Bird Photography Tour in Northwest Ecuador with Mindo

Departure at 6 am from Quito to Yanacocha Reserve - some of the feeder possibilities include Scarlet-bellied and Black-chested Mountain-Tanagers, Shining Sunbeam, Great Sapphirewing, Sword-billed Hummingbird, and Yellow-breasted Brush-Finch. Several Tawny Antpittas also walk around us during this stop.

Then we will have lunch on the road and drive to Birdwatcher's House, where several tanagers visit and pose for us in the well-created bodies of water. Our target, however, will be the spectacular and odd-looking Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, along with tanagers and other birds. The hummingbird feeders host different species such as Collared Inca, Gorgeted Sunangel, and Speckled Hummingbird.

After this fantastic first day, we will have dinner in one of the restaurants in Mindo and then spend the night at Mindo Lindo, another bird photography venue.

Meals: Lunch, dinner, and overnight are included.

Depart at 5 am. Our early rise will let us visit an area deep within the forest where, a short time after dawn, the bright scarlet forms of several displaying Andean Cock-of-the-rocks will start the day with a spectacular forest performance.

However, our day is far from finished, because San Tadeo has set some fruit feeders visited by several species of tanagers, including Black-capped, Beryl-spangled, and Golden-napped, to mention some of them. This private residence was converted into another excellent cloud forest bird viewing and photography site. This efficiently laid-out private residence features two different feeder set-ups.

After this fantastic first part of the morning, we will drive to Alambi Reserve, where 10-20 species visit on most days. The most common is usually the outrageous Booted Racket-tail, the male of which has a strange long tail with two paddles at the end. Other regular drop-ins are several glistening species such as the audacious Violet-tailed Sylph, the standout Purple-bibbed Whitetip, the gem-like Western Emerald, and the dinky Purple-throated Woodstar that regularly buzzes around the reserve.

After Alambi's visit, we will drive to Quito, stopping on the route for lunch and arriving at approximately 5 pm.

Meals included today: breakfast and lunch.