Sunday, January 22, 2012

So Many Birds—So Little Time


Bizarre, yet beautiful: Hoatzin

Birding Ecuador is like drinking from a fire hose. With more than 1,600 bird species in an area smaller than the State of Nevada, and dozens of habitats (compared with half that number of birds in all of the United States and its half dozen or so habitats), a taste is all you’re going to get. But it’s a taste that makes you want to go back for more.
Susan and I just returned from two weeks of Ecuadorean birding, along with friends we met on our Cuban adventure two years ago, and some new friends. We split our time between a week high on the northwest slopes of the Andes, trekking to as high as 11,500 to see the Sword-billed Hummingbird, then a week in the Amazon jungle; two more diverse habitats would be hard to find.
Since a photo is worth a thousand words (or whatever), here’s 10,000 or so.
Enjoy!


The Sword-billed Hummingbird, with its 4-inch bill, is unmistakable, even in the rain


Blue-winged Mountain Tanager


Booted Racket-tail


Capped Heron


There's a reason they call it the Cloud Forest--10,000 feet up and panting


Red-capped Cardinal


Snail Kite


Velvet-purple Coronet


Violet-tailed Sylph

1 comment:

RichC said...

Very nice Clyde. Enjoyed your photos even more than the commentary (and that's unusual for me!)