1 250 725-2520

Just Birding
P. O. Box 990,
Tofino, BC. V0R 2Z0

Peru Bird Tours 2007 - 2008:

Peru is gifted with a large variety of habitats from the driest desert in the world at Paracas on the south coast, to the Andes mountains in the center of the country, and the eastern Amazon rivers and rainforests. Around 118 endemic species of birds are found in Peru from the Peruvian Plantcutter of coastal scrub forests to the little White-cheeked Today Tyrant of bamboo forests of the Amazon region. Some endemic species are range restricted and local knowledge is very valuable when seeking endemics. We always use local Peruvian guides where possible. A staggering 1800 species of birds, a fascinating diversity of people and cultures and some of the largest protected areas in South America combine to make Peru a great birding destination.

View a slide show of this trip.

Read an article written by Dr. Harvey Thommasen describing this trip in
The Medical Post. He was a guest on the 2006 tour.

Custom Tour:

All of our tours are custom designed to give you the birding experience you want. Maximum group size is 4. Guide to client ratio is very high. Deposits must be made in advance upon booking a tour. Tours vary in duration depending upon the time available to clients, destinations and bird species requested.

Tours of 14 to 28 days of either or both North or South Peru can be planned.

Our descent of the Manu Road includes a stay at the cozy Wayqechas Biological Station at 2900 meters. We then spend time at other lodges and elevations as we work our way down to the warm hospitality of the Yabar family at the amazing Amazonia Lodge.

Amazonia Lodge offers hummingbirds out your front door, and a wonderful variety of trails plus canopy tower also.

The Manu Road descending from the Andes to the Amazon has over 1000 species of birds here alone. At 3600 meters at Acjanaco we find Puna Snipe in small ponds and hear the beautiful thin high song of the Black throated and Moustached Flowerpiercer in dripping elfin forest. Giant Hummingbirds and Amethyst throated Sunangel and Tyrian Metaltail feed in the bushes in this high elevation grassland. This adventuresome road descends through upper montane cloud forest, lower montane cloud forest, upper tropical forest and ends at only 500 meters elevation on the upper Madre de Dios River. In the cloud forest mixed flocks of tanagers with Hooded Mountain Tanager, Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Blue capped Tanager, Rust and Yellow Tanager, Orange-eared Tanager travel the treetops and the Gray-breasted Mountain Toucan flits across the road. Lower down we find Paradise Tanager, Golden Tanager, Silver-beaked Tanager, Blue and Black Tanager, Blue-Grey Tanagers and we visit the lek of Andean Cock of the Rock. Lower elevation hummingbird species this year included Wire-crested Thorntail, Speckled Hummingbird, Booted Rackettail, Long-tailed Sylph, Green Hermit, White-bellied Woodstar, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Violet-headed Hummingbird, Grey-breasted Sabrewing, Golden-tailed Saphire, Rufous-crested Coquette, Blue-tailed Emerald, and Koepeke’s Hermit.

This year (2007), we visited the Macaw/Parrot clay lick at Tambopata Research Station. This is the best parrot colpa in the world,

I have seen other colpas at other lodges and on other rivers but this one is definitely the best for numbers and diversity of macaws and parrots. On our visit to the colpa we saw Blue and Yellow Macaw, Red and Green Macaw, Chestnut-fronted Macaw, Red-bellied Macaw, Dusky headed Parakeet, Cobalt-winged Parakeet, Blue-headed Parrot, Orange-cheeked Parrot, White-bellied Parrot, Mealy Parrot, Yellow-crowned Parrot, and Blue-throated Piping Guans and Speckled Chachalacas.

On this same leg of our tour this year we also saw Blue-headed Macaw, Razor-billed Currasow, Scarlet-hooded Barbet, Pale-winged Trumpeter, White-cheeked Tody Tyrant, and Rusty fronted Tody Tyrant. After birding ourselves to exhaustion, on our last day while collapsed in our private river boat on the Tambopata River, we spotted a juvenile Harpy Eagle sitting in the open in a big tree right beside the river. We pulled over to the opposite side of the river and turned off the motor, the boatman hanging on the branches on the bank to hold our position so we could see. While we hung on to the riverbank the Harpy Eagle launched its huge wings into flight and flew over the river giving us a good look at its immense power and size.

This year Dr. Harvey Thommasen and Carol Thommasen saw 385 new bird species on our Just Birding 28-day birding extravaganza of southern Peru.

The best way to get started planning one of these trips is to contact us by phone or e mail or if you are in our area stop by to visit and discuss your tour.

The areas we are currently offering tours in Peru include:

• South coastal Peru Paracas area: desert and boat tour
• Machu Pichu: birding and Inca ruins
• Cusco : Lago Huacarpay and pre Inca ruins
• Manu Road : from Tres Cruces down to Atalaya; from Andes to Amazon
• Amazon region: Lower Madre de Dios River, Tambopata River areas
• Northern Peru
  

Chiclayo coastal dry scrub forest and coastal marshes: In the parched dry forest we will seek the rare endemic Peruvian Plantcutter and the Scarlet-backed Woodpecker.

Maranon area: Pomacocha, Chido, Abra Patricia, Rioja

This tour highlights the now endangered endemic Marvelous Spatulatail Hummingbird, having the longest tail of any hummingbird in the world. Watching a male Spatulatail hovering low in the bushes with his tail feathers while dancing for a female is an unforgettable experience.

Travel to South America takes some time and work to prepare for your tour and arrange reservations in advance. You must insure that you obtain all the necessary medical vaccinations and your passport. If you are thinking about a tour the earlier you contact us the better.

Like they say in Peru, el que madruga, dios ayuda!

(The early bird gets the worm)!

Itinerary and prices

All of our South American tours are custom tours and do not follow a
standard fixed itinerary. Consequently prices will vary according to
the number of days you want and what birds/and or ruins you might want
to see or visit. We will also vary the standard of accomodations that
you might want according to your budget. One that will not change is
our committment to security and your safety which is paramount in both
Canada and foreign countries. Consequently some things will not be
possible because they are too dangerous. For example the Tingo Maria
area in Peru has traditionally been a dangerous area for reasons of
terrorism and as of this date (May 2007) is a no-go area.
Just as we reserve the right to cancel Pelagic tours in Canada due to high
seas, we refuse to operate in particular areas in South America.

Figure out which birds you want to see, give us an idea of your
comfortability level (are you an outdoor camper or do you prefer rooms and
hot showers?) and your budget, and we will work from there.

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Just Birding: 1 250 725-2520. P. O. Box 990, Tofino, BC. V0R 2Z0 Canada

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