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CHINGUELA RIDGE, near SAPALACHE
PERU
PIURA (Compass)
Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography msl
Protected/registered status
Best Time for visit (9th-12th March, 2006)
Birding Site Guide
The Chinguela Ridge can be birded by first heading to Huancabamba from Piura (8 hours if you're lucky). The road is bad and in the rainy season, traffic is interupted constantly with lanslides and river-crossings. 3 bus companies leave from Piura. I travelled with 'Etipthsac' who leave at 7am and also have night bus leaving at 5pm (S20). Huancabamba has several places to stay, eat and also internet access. I stayed at Danubio for S10. From Huancabamba, colectivos leave for Sapalache (ask from where). This is another 1 hour uphill on a poor road which is also susceptible to landslides in the rainy season. Public transport probably finishes in Sapalache although a couple of minibuses were seen going up and coming back down in the early afternoon. It may be possible to stay at the restaurant in Sapalache if you miss the last colectivo back to Huancabamba at about 5pm or want to get an early start. Several pick-ups travel along this road and it may well be possible to hitch. If not, it is less than 3 hours to the ridge along a fairly new road in good condition leaving from the Sapalache plaza. Paramo Pipit was seen on the way up. I walked up here and camped for 2 nights birding the elfin forest on the other side of the ridge. Habitat destruction appears to be occuring at an alarming rate, especially along the road. Burning whole hillsides appears to be standard practice. At the highest point on the the road, there are several patches of elfin forest that are definately worth exploring. I missed these in the fog on the way up and had no time to explore on the way back. Further on, the road passes through paramo for a while and then elfin forest starts again. An overhead electric wire crosses the road at several points. Where it crosses the 3rd time, there is a path leading down past one of the poles to the left of the road. This leads past the site of an old house where the ground is flat and makes a good camp-ground. In the rainy season, there were plenty of small streams which would seem to provide amply drinking water.
Any elfin forest from the top down to where the dead trees start is worth birding. The best area I found was an old trail which runs above the road at the top through paramo. Before a right turn down the hill around where the elfin forest starts again, there is a lone tree on the right. Before this on the left of the road are some numbers painted in white on a rock. 386 crossed out and 1282 painted in its place. Just before this is a very small stream coming down. Follow this up and it will get to a bigger trail above. This passes through several good patches of forest. Birds found in this area included Chusquea Tapaculo, several species of mountain-tanager, Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, Chestnut-naped Antpitta, Pale-naped Brush-Finch, Mouse-colored Thistletail and Andean Snipe (also heard displaying at night). General birds of the elfin forest included Glossy Flowerpiercer, Neblina Metaltail, Glowing Puffleg, Rufous-naped Brush-Finch, Black-crested Warbler, Turquoise Jay, etc.
I also birded the western slope of the ridge approached from a different way. Instead of turning off the road to the plaza in Sapalache, continue straight on to a trout farm (pescaria). Here the road ends but a path continues up. This forks soon and either route leads up and to some remnant forest patches. Birds seen here but not on the eastern side were: Citrine Warbler, Red-crested Cotinga and Rainbow-fronted Starfrontlet. The habitat destruction on this slope is worse and very little remained. At the tree-line on the western side, I flushed a large snipe from paramo which flew into forest. It seemed much more rufous than Andean and could have been one of the rarer species.
I saw 69 species including 19 lifers.
Species seen
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Andean Snipe Gallinago jamesoni Photographed
Band-tailed Pigeon Patagioenas fasciata
Eared Dove Zenaida auriculata
White-collared Swift Streptoprocne zonaris
Sparkling Violet-ear Colibri coruscans
Chestnut-breasted Coronet Boissonneaua matthewsii
Shining Sunbeam Aglaeactis cupripennis Photographed
Mountain Velvetbreast Lafresnaya lafresnayi Possibly seen
Collared Inca Coeligena torquata Photographed
Rainbow Starfrontlet Coeligena iris
Glowing Puffleg Eriocnemis vestitus
Tyrian Metaltail Metallura tyrianthina Photographed
Neblina Metaltail Metallura odomae Near-threatened Photographed
Rainbow-bearded Thornbill Chalcostigma herrani Photographed
Mouse-colored Thistletail Schizoeaca griseomurina Photographed
Many-striped Canastero Asthenes flammulata Photographed Recorded
Pearled Treerunner Margarornis squamiger
Flammulated Treehunter Thripadectes flammulatus Possibly heard
Chestnut-naped Antpitta Grallaria nuchalis Heard only
Chusquea Tapaculo Scytalopus parkeri Photographed Recorded
Red-crested Cotinga Ampelion rubrocristata
White-crested Elaenia Elaenia albiceps
Sierran Elaenia Elaenia pallatangae Possibly seen
White-throated Tyrannulet Mecocerculus leucophrys
White-banded Tyrannulet Mecocerculus stictopterus Possibly seen
Tufted Tit-Tyrant Anairetes parulus Possibly seen
Cinnamon Flycatcher Pyrrhomyias cinnamomea
Cliff Flycatcher Hirundinea ferruginea
Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant Ochthoeca rufipectoralis
Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant Ochthoeca fumicolor Photographed
White-browed Chat-Tyrant Ochthoeca leucophrys Possibly seen
Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
Gray-breasted Martin Progne chalybea Seen in Huancabamba
Blue-and-white Swallow Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
Brown-bellied Swallow Notiochelidon murina
Paramo Pipit Anthus bogotensis
Rufous Wren Cinnycerthia unirufa
Sedge Wren Cistothorus platensis
Great Thrush Turdus fuscater
Turquoise Jay Cyanolyca turcosa Photographed Recorded
Slate-throated Redstart Myioborus miniatus
Spectacled Redstart Myioborus melanocephalus
Citrine Warbler Basileuterus luteoviridis
Black-crested Warbler Basileuterus nigrocristatus
Russet-crowned Warbler Basileuterus coronatus
Blue-backed Conebill Conirostrum sitticolor
Capped Conebill Conirostrum albifrons
Black-capped Hemispingus Hemispingus atropileus Photographed
Blue-gray Tanager Thraupis episcopus
Blue-capped Tanager Thraupis cyanocephala Photographed
Hooded Mountain-Tanager Buthraupis montana Photographed
Black-chested Mountain-Tanager Buthraupis eximia Photographed
Lacrimose Mountain-Tanager Anisognathus lacrymosus
Scarlet-bellied Mountain-Tanager Anisognathus igniventris
Golden-crowned Tanager Iridosornis rufivertex
Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanager Dubusia taeniata Photographed
Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch Phrygilus plebejus Photographed
Plain-colored Seedeater Catamenia inornata
Glossy Flowerpiercer Diglossa lafresnayii Photographed
Black Flowerpiercer Diglossa humeralis Possibly seen
Masked Flowerpiercer Diglossopis cyanea
Pale-naped Brush-Finch Atlapetes pallidinucha Photographed
Yellow-breasted Brush-Finch Atlapetes latinuchus Photographed
Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis
Golden-bellied Grosbeak Pheucticus chrysogaster
Peruvian Meadowlark Sturnella bellicosa Seen near Sapalache
Hooded Siskin Carduelis magellanica Seen near Sapalache
Other Fauna
A total of -- species of mammals.
There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles.
Flora
Author: Charles Hesse
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