Our tour begins with a morning flight from Lima to Cusco, ancient capital of the Incas. Upon our arrival, we immediately depart in our expedition bus for Huacarpay Lakes.
HUACARPAY LAKES
At Huacarpay Lakes we'll have an opportunity to see a variety of Peruvian water birds including Puna Ibis, Andean Ibis, Andean Teal, Yellow-billed Pintail, White-cheeked Pintail, Puna Teal, Andean Ruddy-Duck, Plumbeous Rail, Andean Coot, Andean Lapwing, Puna Plover, and Andean Gull. We may also see the more scarce White-backed Stilt. We hope to see several high-elevation hummingbirds including Giant Hummingbird, Green-tailed Trainbearer. and the endemic Bearded Mountaineer. Roadsides offer opportunities to see a variety of higher elevation specialties, including Wren-like Rush-bird, Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, Rufous-naped Ground-Tyrant, Chiguanco Thrush, and Cinerous Conebill. The open country habitats along the road to the lakes feature a variety of higher elevation finches including Peruvian Sierra-Finch, Mourning Sierra-Finch, Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch, Chestnut-bearded Mountain-Finch, Band-tailed Seedeater, and Greenish Yellow-Finch.
MACHU PICCHU
We'll spend part of our visit exploring the spectacular ruins of Machu Picchu, the last stronghold of the Incas. During our archaeological tour we'll see White-tipped Swifts soaring overhead, but our primary focus will be the ruins themselves. The remainder of our visit will be spent birding the bamboo around the ruins, where we can expect to see Inca Wren as well as the endemic Puna Thistletail and Parodi's Hemispingus, the forested slopes below the ruins, and the Urubamba River Valley. Specialty birds we'll be targeting include Gould's Inca, Ocellated Piculet, Sclater's Tyrannulet, Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet, the endemic Masked Fruiteater, White-eared Solitaire,, and the normally scarce Silver-backed Tanager that is often seen here. The endemic Green-and-white Hummingbird is commonly seen in the Inga trees below the ruins.
A variety of more widely distributed birds are also possible or likely around Machu Picchu. We'll certainly be looking for Andean Condor, which is possible in any of the higher elevation sites we'll be visiting on the tour. Additional possibilities include the spectacular Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Highland Motmot, Black-streaked Puffbird, Versicolored Barbet, Variable Antshrike, Andean Solitaire, Chiguanco Thrush, Hooded Siskin, Pale-legged Warbler, Oleaginous Hemispingus, Rusty Flowerpiercer, Cusco Brush-Finch, Golden-billed Saltator, and Black-backed Grosbeak. We hope to encounter some tanager flocks that may contain Rust-and-yellow Tanager, Blue-capped Tanager, Blue-and-yellow Tanager, Fawn-breasted Tanager, Saffron-crowned Tanager, Blue-necked Tanager, Golden-naped Tanager, and Beryl-spangled Tanager as well as a variety of other bird species. We also expect to see a good variety of flycatchers that could include Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant, Plumbeous-crowned Tyrannulet Maroon-chested Chat-Tyrant, and White-winged Black-Tyrant.
ABRA MALAGA
Abra Malaga is one of the most productive birding areas in the Peruvian Andes, and we'll have three full days to explore this area. An isolated patch of Polylepis woodland features several specialties unique to this habitat, including endemics such as Royal Cinclodes, White-browed Tit-Spinetail, Tawny Tit-Spinetail, and Junin Canastero. Other birds found in this habitat include Blue-mantled Thornbill, Bar-winged Cinclodes, White-winged Cinclodes, Line-fronted Canastero, Stripe-headed Antpitta, Andean Tapaculo, Thick-billed Siskin, and Giant Conebill.
The western side of the pass offers additional species including endemics such as White-tufted Sunbeam, Creamy-crested Spinetail, Rusty-fronted Canastero, and Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch. Other birds we could see include Andean Condor, Andean Guan, Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Marcapata Spinetail, Pearled Treerunner, Red-crested Cotinga, Unstreaked Tit-Tyrant, Pale-legged Warbler, White-browed Conebill, Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Tanager, Moustached Flowerpiercer, and Cusco Brush-Finch. Several hummingbirds are possible including Andean Hillstar, Great Saphhirewing, Violet-throated Starfrontlet, Sword-billed Hummingbird, and Coppery-naped Puffleg.
