Ecuador Birding – The place Each Feather Tells a Story
From October 26, 2025 via November 8, 2025 I joined 5 different adventurers and an excellent photographer and birding information (Liron Gertsman) with Eagle-Eye Excursions to Ecuador. This weblog sequence highlights the animals (principally birds), individuals and areas we encountered over the 14 full days on this lovely land. *Until in any other case indicated within the picture caption, all pictures (>99%) are mine.
Weblog Submit #3 “First Gentle Birding at Puembo Birding Backyard“
A Reflections of the Pure World Weblog Submit Sequence by Jim Acquire
DAY 1 Dawn
As I bought dressed, the primary birds of the journey introduced themselves exterior my window: Rufous-collared Sparrows with their candy, whistled songs, and the smooth, inquisitive calls of Southern Beardless-Tyrannulets. After I stepped exterior, prepared to start the day, I met Mercedes and Alex, my birding accomplice for the day—and as soon as once more needed to be gently shushed for being too loud at such an early hour. It turned out our driver had blended up the pickup time, so we had a short while to discover whereas breakfast was being ready.
I wandered the grounds to get my bearings. At one level I adopted the flawed path and ended up someplace visitors weren’t alleged to be, however after a fast correction I retreated to the attractive patio space. It held an extended eating desk, comfy chairs, and a small library of chook subject guides and native pure historical past books.
Past the patio, the backyard opened right into a lush mixture of shrubs and flowering vegetation, dotted with hummingbird feeders, complete‑seed feeders, and cracked‑corn trays. The flowers, although, appeared to be the actual draw for the hummingbirds.
The primary chook I noticed—and photographed—was a SPARKLING VIOLETEAR, shimmering emerald and violet because it hovered from bloom to bloom. It was remarkably vocal, giving its sharp, metallic calls because it labored each flower on each bush.
Subsequent got here a well-known pal: a BLUE-GRAY TANAGER, drawn to the bananas on the fruit feeders. I’d seen this species many occasions in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, however it was nonetheless a welcome sight.
Alex pointed me towards the cracked‑corn feeders in the back of the backyard, the place a number of EARED DOVES and CROAKING GROUND DOVES had been feeding. Their smooth coos and low, frog‑like calls blended into the morning air.
Quickly they had been joined by a small flock of SAFFRON FINCHES, their vibrant yellow plumage glowing in opposition to the cool Andean morning.
The day had barely begun, and already the birds had been delivering.
NEXT UP: Unofficial Sidetrip to Zuro Loma
Earlier Ecuador Birding weblog posts will likely be linked under.
*This Ecuador Birding weblog put up was formed and polished with the help of Microsoft Copilot, serving to carry readability and a constant circulate to my subject notes and dictated recollections.