On Day 3 of our Ecuador Bird Tour we left early from Sachatamia Lodge, our base in the Mindo Valley, and headed to Reserva Amagusa where we spent the entire day racking up Lifers.
There were four areas of Reserva Amagusa that we visited during our day there. The largest area was about 200′ X 200′ of cleared ground. Trees surrounded the perimeter where birds would perch before flying in to feed on bananas placed on dead limbs in front of the deck. The main attraction here were the tanagers. Tanagers are relatively small (about the size of a house sparrow) and are brightly colored. Below are some of the pictures I too – see more in the Latest Pics section of the site.
The Flame-faced Tanager had yellow-orange head with sea-foam green on its body.
This female Flame-rumped Tanager perched atop a wild flower.
My favorite was the Glistening-Green Tanager. I have never seen any bird with such a bright green coloration (with a touch of red on the ear)!
The Golden Tanager was a common visitor to many of the feeders in Ecuador and was easy to spot with its bright yellow and contrasting black plumage.
This was the only place where we saw the Moss-backed Tanager, with its muted green and blue feathers.
A White-winged Tanager kept its distance from us, but seemed curious about all the Americans gawking at it.
Not as colorful as the others but nonetheless an interesting-looking bird was the Rufous-Throated Tanager (which look more yellow than rufous).
Of course other types of birds came into the feeder area. One of my favorites was this small Ornate Flycatcher which would fly off from its perch, snatch a flying bug, and then return to its perch.
A group of seven Rose-faced Parrots came in to feed at a bunch of bananas hung at the top of a dead tree just off the deck we were standing on. I loved watching the expressions on their faces.
All the birds there were new and interesting to us, but when this Black Solitaire showed up our guide Tony made sure we saw this relatively rare bird.
A male and female Orange-bellied Euphonia showed up to feed at the bananas. Quite a difference between the two!
Cracked corn was spread on the ground at the back of the clearing on the edge of the forest. A family of Black-backed Wood-Quail (two adults and two juveniles) came to feed.
After a couple of hours of bird watching on the main deck we moved only about 100 yards into the forest where a smaller, more intimate, feeding area was setup. The main attraction there were Barbets, larger and colorful birds of the forest. The first species of Barbet to show up was a Red-headed Barbet, a fierce-looking bird. The first two pictures below show a male and immature male.
A female Red-headed Barbet came in to the bananas as well, which had muted colors (not the banana, the bird).
Perhaps even more striking than the Red-headed Barbet was the Toucan Barbet. It was covered in a multitude of colors and appeared very aggressive.
This post has become pretty long and with two more feeding areas at Reserva Amagusa to cover I think I’ll save them for later. In case you missed them here are links to previous posts of our Ecuador Birding Trip:
How to prepare for and get the most from your bird tour
Our Ecuador Birding Trip – Preliminary Data
Our Bird Tour In Ecuador – Overview
Birding a City Park in Downtown Quito, Ecuador
Out of Quito to Reserva Yanacocha
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