AYAMPE & LIST
ECUADOR
Region (Compass)
Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography msl
Protected/registered status
Best Time for visit (31st July, 2006)
Birding Site Guide
I used Puerto Lopez as a base when visiting Ayampe but there are also a couple of places to stay in this small coastal town. Puerto Lopez is just 25 minutes away by regular bus (50c) though, so getting here early in the morning is not a problem. I stayed at Hostal Sol Inn in PL for $6 for a single room. There are also many restaurants and also internet here although it is expensive and a little slow. There are several birding areas within walking distance of the town. The first is some ponds and a kind of an estuary at the rive mouth on the Ayampe side. Here I saw several species of water birds including Stilt Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher and Great Blue Heron. Another birding site is inland along the river. Again on the Ayampe side follow the road along a bit where it forks, the left staying on the valley floor and crossing the small river several times and the right climbing a little up the right side of the valley. Along the valley floor I saw Masked Water-Tyrant, Masked Yellowthroat and heard Watkin’s Antpitta whereas on the right trail I heard Little Tinamou and saw Violaceous Trogon, Red-rumped Woodpecker and Western Slaty-Antshrike. The last site I visited was along the main road towards Montañita. The road climbs up and at the top before it starts going down again, I saw Guira Tanager, Yellow-tufted Dacnis and Sooty-headed Tyrannlet. Follow the road down, and about 2km or half an hour’s walk from Ayamp, you reach a right turn in the road. This spot is excellent and I saw Grey-backed Hawk, White-bearded Manakin, Black-cheeked Woodpecker and Bay Wren in forest by the road. Back in Ayampe, there are bushes with many red flowers, behind these towards the ocean is a big tree in which I saw Pearl Kite. I saw 103 species including 9 lifers
Species seen
- Little Tinamou Crypturellus soui Heard only
- Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
- Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens photo'd
- Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias photo'd
- Great Egret Ardea alba
- Snowy Egret Egretta thula photo'd
- Striated Heron Butorides striata photo'd
- Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
- Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea photo'd
- Black Vulture Coragyps atratus photo'd
- Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura photo'd
- Pearl Kite Gampsonyx swainsonii photo'd
- Gray-backed Hawk Leucopternis occidentalis Endangered photo'd Recorded
- Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus photo'd
- Gray Hawk Asturina nitida photo'd Recorded
- Laughing Falcon Herpetotheres cachinnans Heard only
- Rufous-headed Chachalaca Ortalis erythroptera Vulnerable Possibly heard
- White-throated Crake Laterallus albigularis Heard only
- Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia photo'd Recorded
- Collared Plover Charadrius collaris
- Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus
- Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularia photo'd
- Willet Catoptrophorus semipalmatus photo'd
- Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla photo'd Recorded
- Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla photo'd
- Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus
- Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica photo'd Recorded
- Ecuadorian Ground-Dove Columbina buckleyi
- White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi
- Ochre-bellied Dove Leptotila ochraceiventris Vulnerable Heard only
- Pacific Parrotlet Forpus coelestis
- Red-billed Parrot Pionus sordidus
- Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana Recorded
- Smooth-billed Ani Crotophaga ani photo'd
- Groove-billed Ani Crotophaga sulcirostris photo'd
- Peruvian Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium peruanum Heard only
- Gray-rumped Swift Chaetura cinereiventris
- (Baron's Hermit) Phaethornis baroni
- Violaceous Trogon Trogon violaceus photo'd
- (Ecuadorian Trogon) Trogon mesurus
- Ringed Kingfisher Ceryle torquatus
- Green Kingfisher Chloroceryle americana Recorded
- (Chestnut-mandibled Toucan) Ramphastos swainsonii Recorded
- Black-cheeked Woodpecker Melanerpes pucherani
- Scarlet-backed Woodpecker Veniliornis callonotus
- Red-rumped Woodpecker Veniliornis kirkii
- Lineated Woodpecker Dryocopus lineatus Possibly heard. Recorded
- (Pacific Hornero) Furnarius leucopus
- Slaty Spinetail Synallaxis brachyura Heard only
- Olivaceous Woodcreeper Sittasomus griseicapillus
- Great Antshrike Taraba major
- Collared Antshrike Sakesphorus bernardi Possibly heard
- Western Slaty-Antshrike Thamnophilus atrinucha photo'd
- Plain Antvireo Dysithamnus mentalis Recorded
- Slaty Antwren Myrmotherula schisticolor
- Watkins's Antpitta Grallaria watkinsi Heard only. Recorded
- White-bearded Manakin Manacus manacus Recorded
- Yellow-bellied Elaenia Elaenia flavogaster
- Sooty-headed Tyrannulet Phyllomyias griseiceps
- Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant Euscarthmus meloryphus
- Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant Lophotriccus pileatus Heard only
- Bran-colored Flycatcher Myiophobus fasciatus
- Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher Myiobius sulphureipygius
- Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus photo'd
- Masked Water-Tyrant Fluvicola nengeta photo'd Recorded
- Sooty-crowned Flycatcher Myiarchus phaeocephalus photo'd
- Boat-billed Flycatcher Megarynchus pitangua Recorded
- Social Flycatcher Myiozetetes similis
- Baird's Flycatcher Myiodynastes bairdii
- Streaked Flycatcher Myiodynastes maculatus
- Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus photo'd
- Gray-breasted Martin Progne chalybea
- Blue-and-white Swallow Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
- Southern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx ruficollis
- Fasciated Wren Campylorhynchus fasciatus
- Bay Wren Thryothorus nigricapillus
- House Wren Troglodytes aedon
- Scaly-breasted Wren Microcerculus marginatus Heard only
- Long-tailed Mockingbird Mimus longicaudatus
- Ecuadorian Thrush Turdus maculirostris
- Tropical Gnatcatcher Polioptila plumbea
- Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus
- Lesser Greenlet Hylophilus decurtatus
- Tropical Parula Parula pitiayumi
- Masked Yellowthroat Geothlypis aequinoctialis
- Gray-and-gold Warbler Basileuterus fraseri
- Bananaquit Coereba flaveola
- Guira Tanager Hemithraupis guira
- White-shouldered Tanager Tachyphonus luctuosus
- Flame-rumped Tanager Ramphocelus flammigerus
- Blue-gray Tanager Thraupis episcopus
- Palm Tanager Thraupis palmarum
- Thick-billed Euphonia Euphonia laniirostris Recorded
- (Yellow-tufted Dacnis) Dacnis egregia photo'd
- Crimson-breasted Finch Rhodospingus cruentus
- Variable Seedeater Sporophila corvina
- Orange-billed Sparrow Arremon aurantiirostris
- Black-striped Sparrow Arremonops conirostris photo'd
- Streaked Saltator Saltator striatipectus photo'd
- Golden-bellied Grosbeak Pheucticus chrysogaster
- Scrub Blackbird Dives warszewiczi
- Yellow-tailed Oriole Icterus mesomelas
- Yellow-rumped Cacique Cacicus cela
Other Fauna
A total of -- species of mammals.
There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles.
Author Charles Hesse
www.birdingsiteguide.com
