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