Birdwatching deep jungle

Walk deep into the jungle to experience sightings of rare birds.

We’ve seen a lot of birdwatchers who were used to getting birds served on a platter. Lots of birdwatching sites bait birds regularly with fruit so they are easy to encounter. Then visitors sit or stand on a balcony in comfort and don’t have to walk or explore to find birds and collect sightings.

We do support this kind of birdwatching for people who are elderly or disabled. It’s a great activity and we have the experience available for people who can’t take the time to find birds in their natural environment.

But that kind of interaction doesn’t work for the harpy eagle, to meet a bird like that properly you have to be serious and respectful about your side of the encounter. For people who are healthy and like hiking we are offering a different kind of experience. You might see only a few deep-jungle species on a days hike, but you will see them in their natural environment, and you will have to earn the right to see them by walking quietly, paying attention, and going to places and at times when they are active.

This kind of birdwatching requires a high degree of fitness, experienced guides, and respect for the leave-no-trace wilderness conservation ethic. We estimate on talking with experts that our birdwatching sites have between 600-800 species of birds. But because they are underresearched and the locals don’t have very expensive equipment many of these species are underidentified. If you’re serious about birdwatching we encourage you to explore with a guide and see if you can identify a new species, or just meet birds on their own terms.

Here are some of the bird species you’ll find in the deep jungle in the Villagarzon site.

☐ Great black hawk / Buteogallus urubitinga

☐ The white hawk / Pseudastur albicollis albicollis

☐ Black caracara / Daptrius ater

☐ Glittering-throated Emerald / Chinomesa fimbriata

☐ Great tinamou / Tinamus major

☐ Andean Cock-of-the-rock / Rupicola peruvianus aequatorialis

☐ Speckled chachalaca / Ortalis guttata

☐ Pauraque / Nyctidromus albicollis albicollis

☐ Salvin's curassow / Mitus salvini

☐ Nocturnal curassow / Nothocrax urumutum

☐ Streaked flycatcher / Myiodynastes maculatus difficilis

☐ White-browed guan / Penelope jactum

☐ Wattled guan / Aburria aburri

☐ Violaceous jay / Cyanocorax violaceus

☐ Grey-winged trumpeter / Psophia crepitans

☐ White-tipped dove / Leptotila verreauxi hernandezi

☐ Blue ground dove / Claravis pretiosa

☐ Gartered trogon / Trogon caligatus

☐ Channel-billed toucan / Ramphastos vitellinus culminatus

☐ Yellow-throated toucan / Ramphastos ambiguus ambiguus