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There’s something about a toucan, isn’t there? Toucans tell you that you aren’t in Kansas anymore. They affirm that the tropics are true, not just myths manufactured to make those of us with winter jealous. Thanks to a childhood steeped in sugary cereal, I’ve always had a soft spot for Toucan Sam and his ilk. [...]

Rogitama Private Nature Reserve, about 3 hours drive north of Bogota, is a true success story. Founded by Roberto Chavarro and his family in the early eighties, this little reserve has been dropped slap-bang into the birding spotlight by the recent claims of the rediscovery of the Bogota Sunangel Heliangelus zusii, a species that is [...]

We humans have a very deep and powerful urge to assemble individual data points into some sort of larger construct — to label and categorize them and understand how they relate to other things we know. Which is why, upon meeting new people, we want to know where they’re from, who their family is, what [...]

The next time a bird poops on your car, think carefully before you act. Consider who the rightful owner of this rich resource might be and weigh the consequences of hasty action. Now a car manufacturer might suggest that you remove the caustic substance immediately with a soft cloth, but are they really the right people to [...]

If you did not pay attention to your geography teacher then this is your chance to excel beyond the rest of the people who really don´t know where or what is Ecuador. Well maybe I am all wrong about you, the readers of 10,000 Birds, but this is no exaggeration, it is true.  Many people [...]

The third day of my Ecuadorean odyssey in the able care of Renato and Paola of Pululahua Hostal was our unofficial Chocó Endemics day. The Chocó Region is an Endemic Bird Area that encompasses 100,000 square kilometers of varied habitat in western Colombia and Ecuador. With its profusion of humid, wet, and super-wet forests, the Chocó region [...]

Reserva Mangaloma in Ecuador isn’t just amazing for avifauna, but is absolutely burgeoning with amazing butterflies. From the foothills to the highlands, we were treated to stunning tropical specimens. I may not be able to put a name to these faces (if you can, please do!) but they sure are purty… Yellow-Edged Giant-Owl (Caligo atreus) [...]

The third day of my Ecuadorean avian odyssey in the capable care of Renato and Paola of Pululahua Hostal was informally dubbed Chocó Endemics Day, as we planned to seek out and see as many natives of the Chocó Region as possible. Our first and most important stop brought us to Reserva Mangaloma, home to some truly spectacular species. [...]

While I’ve long been aware of the existence of at least seven heavens, their distinguishing features, like those of the fabled seven seas, have always been lost on me. Why, one might wonder, is the seventh heaven the best? I can’t answer that question for sure but I suspect birds have something to do with it. At [...]

Looking back on it, I still cannot believe how action-packed my second day in Ecuador was. As dawn broke, I admired killer cloudforest birds like barbets, toucanets, mountain-tanagers, and cocks-of-the-rock at Paz de Las Aves. After lunch, I saw seedeaters aplenty in magnificent Mindo. Yet instead of snatching a much-needed siesta, our merry band of [...]

Remember how I asserted that one of the features that establishes Ecuador as one of the best countries for birdwatching in the world was a road essentially dedicated to birdwatching? Well, I should also mention that this gorgeous country is home to a town that celebrates birding like none other. The rural town of Mindo may lack [...]

I think I’ve done it, and by “it” I mean devised an ID challenge so… challenging that even our audience won’t be able to crack it. We all know how difficult empids can be to identify. Now take a bird that may not even be an empid or even a flycatcher for that matter but [...]

As I was saying (see Part I),  I, David, Renato & Paola, and birders from four different continents had just been treated to one of the most spectacular feeder bird displays imaginable. Spotting an Andean Cock-of-the-Rock is cool enough but one simply does not expect to get so close to toucanets, pihas, barbets, or mountain-tanagers.  Yet, the main event [...]

Legendary among birders who have enjoyed the best of the Americas is the man who speaks to antpittas. Long before I ever traveled to Ecuador, I heard tales of Angel Paz, of how he has trained special, secretive birds to come when he calls. The absurdity of antpittas, these large, charismatic underbrush-lurking antbirds, putting on [...]

What makes Ecuador one of the best countries for birdwatching in the world, bar none? Obviously, the highest species diversity per square mile doesn’t hurt. But Ecuador goes above and beyond in the service of sensational wildlife watching. How many countries do you know that have a road dedicated to birding? Ecoruta El Paseo del [...]

The Yanacocha Reserve on the west slope of the Ecuadorean Andes is a stunning site to visit, not to mention a highly productive place to watch birds. I’ve already described many of the avian attractions of Yanacocha but saved some of the best for last. How about those hummingbirds? Yanacocha deploys some of the most [...]

With the highest species diversity per square mile of any country on Earth, Ecuador can be seriously overwhelming for birders. Most guides try to ease new visitors into the inevitable frenzy of brightly colored birds by beginning at Yanacocha Reserve, just an hour outside of Quito. This protected temperate forest on the slopes of Volcano [...]

Like many people the world over I’ve wanted to visit the Galapagos Islands ever since I knew they existed.  Whether this desire is because of the influence of the islands on Darwin and his theory of evolution, the numerous documentaries about them, the fact that Kurt Vonnegut based a novel there, their distance from everything [...]

Chrissy Guarino is our most prolific guest blogger, having shared one story after another with the readership of 10,000 Birds.  In this post she shares her experiences trying to identify birds off the coast of Peru and while hiking to Machu Picchu (without an expert bird guide) from the 14th to the 24th of July.  [...]

This planet of ours is impossibly vast, as those eager to bird the length and width of it might attest. Watching birds in a new territory can be a tense affair; if you don’t spot and identify that tody-flycatcher during your brief stay in a distant land, YOU MAY NEVER GET ANOTHER CHANCE! There are [...]