South Peru – Birding the Inca Empire, Andes and Amazonian Rainforests

Peru has the second highest country bird list on the planet (second only to Colombia). With an incredible bird species list of 1,890 species and an equally amazing 113 country endemics, Peru is, quite simply, a must-visit birding destination. Our 16-day tour through southern Peru will take you to explore some of the classic highlights of this incredible country. Peru is also famous for being one of the richest countries on the planet for archaeology, with a staggering pre-Hispanic heritage that started around 5,000BC, making it easy to find remains of its ancient past around each corner. This tour will take you to explore some of the country’s classic, famous birding sites of the southern part of the country: Machu Picchu, the Manu Road and the Macaw Clay Lick. The magnificent Andean scenery and archeological sites provide a grand backdrop to the birding.

We will spend some time enjoying the famous Machu Picchu ruins (Niall Perrins).

Our tour will start in the city of Lima, the international point of entry to the country, and after being welcomed by our staff, we will spend a night in a comfortable hotel in the city. The following day we will catch a flight to the city of Puerto Maldonado, the capital of the Madre de Dios state, in the Peruvian Amazon. Puerto Maldonado provides the main point of access to the Tambopata National Reserve, a 1,060 square mile (2,700 square kilometers) wildlife haven which protects several Amazon rainforest ecosystems. This reserve is a refuge for a number of threatened and charismatic species including the likes of Giant Otters, Jaguars, Harpy Eagles and several species of loud and colorful macaws. We shall spend five days exploring this region which includes a couple of nights at the Chuncho Lodge, located near the famous Macaw Clay Lick along the Tambopata River. Here you will have the chance to witness one of the most incredible natural avian spectacles, with dozens of macaws and parrots congregating in a unique combination of color and noise; a sensory overload if there ever was one! To maximize our chances of seeing the clay lick in its full splendor we have included two visits to it. During our stay in Chuncho Lodge, we will also spend time birding along a number of forest trails where we may be lucky enough to encounter other elusive forest creatures such as Colombian Red Howler Monkey, Southern Amazon Red Squirrel, Tayra, and, with luck, a Lowland (Brazilian) Tapir or even the elusive Jaguar. Our Best of Brazil tour birding and mammal tour, which includes the Pantanal, is the best option for seeing Jaguar and other charismatic South American mammals; in Peru they tend to be more elusive.

We will have the chance to visit a classic Amazon oxbow lake where we should encounter some similar widespread Amazon species similar to those found at Chuncho Lodge but with the addition of some aquatic birds such as the incredibly beautiful Agami Heron, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Green Ibis, Sungrebe, the famous leaf-eating Hoatzin, Horned Screamer and with some luck, the scarce and endangered Giant Otter.

The strange-looking Hoatzin will hopefully be encountered in the Amazon rainforest.

After six days in the Amazon basin, we will fly to the city of Cusco, at an altitude of 8,858 feet (2,792 meters), from where we will be transferred to the comfortable Hotel Pakaritampu in the nearby town of Ollantaytambo. In the hotel gardens we will hope to see a number of fantastic hummingbird species including Bearded Mountaineer and Green-tailed Trainbearer. The small tourist town of Ollantaytambo stands near the train station that will take us to the famous Machu Picchu ruins.

The next day we will take a 1.5-hour, magnificently scenic, Andean train ride to the town of Aguas Calientes (hot springs), the base from which we will enjoy the ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu (we will have a maximum of three hours at this site). We will use the time to see the site from all its classic angles and soak in the atmosphere of this world-famous archaeological wonder. While we are here, we will also spend time tracking down the Peruvian endemic Inca Wren. The lush forest around Machu Picchu holds other interesting species such as the endemic Masked Fruiteater, the endemic Green-and-white Hummingbird, Slaty Tanager, Sclater’s Tyrannulet, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Andean Motmot, Ocellated Piculet, Blue-naped Chlorophonia, Variable Antshrike, Rust-and-yellow Tanager, Andean Guan, White-eared Solitaire, Pale-legged Warbler, Oleaginous Hemispingus, while the nearby river provides views of Torrent Duck, White-capped Dipper and Fasciated Tiger Heron.

The brightly colored Masked Fruiteater.

The last leg of our adventure will take us to explore the fantastic Manu Road, a famous (among birders especially), unpaved, old road that links the city of Cusco with the lowlands of Madre de Dios, in the Amazon basin. Manu Road provides us with dramatic altitudinal changes, ensuring we pass through many different habitat types which, in turn, means we will encounter a myriad of bird species. Manu Road is an essential inclusion on any birding tour to southern Peru. We will spend the following five days exploring habitats including arid scrub slopes, steep mountain slopes, cloud forest and lush humid tropical forest. We will look for an incredible set of species such as the endemic Red-and-white Antpitta, Marcapata Spinetail, Creamy-crested Spinetail, Chestnut-breasted Mountain Finch, Masked Trogon, Grey-breasted Mountain Toucan and Golden-headed Quetzal. Mixed-species flocks will be investigated for a number of tanagers such as Paradise, Bay-headed, Spotted, Beryl-spangled, Blue-and-black and Golden-collared as well as the gorgeous Versicolored Barbet.