Ecuador: Napo Wildlife Center Short Tour

Ecuador is a pint-sized country with lots to offer. From the lush Amazonian rainforests to the high Andean páramos, it boasts good access to birding habitat, unsurpassed scenic splendor, friendly people, and a stable government. Incredibly, over 1,700 species of birds have been recorded in the country, in an area smaller than the state of Colorado! Among them are many of the most spectacular and distinctive Neotropical specialties. "Ecuador: Napo Wildlife Center Short Tour” is the first of a two-part tour (followed by “Ecuador: Eastern Slope of the Andes”) designed to sample this magnificent avifauna in two choice areas, representing very different regions. Between them they offer a full range of birding possibilities.

The exciting and comfortable Napo Wildlife Center, in the Rio Napo lowland watershed of northeastern Ecuador, lies within the most diverse avifaunal zone in the world, the vast rainforests of upper Amazonia. Located in the huge Yasuni National Park, this marvelous site constitutes an impressive model in sustainable development, born of the hard work of the local indigenous Kichwa community of Añangu. Their vision is one of a healthy natural environment that will support their traditional way of life while at the same time keep them connected to a constantly more globalized world through sustainable management.

The lowland rainforests of Amazonia, superficially so uniform in appearance, are marvelously complex in reality. They are home to a web of species inhabiting every imaginable niche, and some 600 species of birds have been recorded in and around the Napo Wildlife Center. The full array of lowland birds is present, including large raptors, guans, and macaws. Antbirds are numerous and diverse, and mixed-flocks of a great variety of birds regularly forage through the understory and subcanopy here. Up to three excellent towers offer great opportunities for viewing the birdlife of the forest canopy. Clay licks (saladeros) along the Napo and inside the forest attract large numbers of parrots, an unforgettable spectacle. Blackwater streams, swamps, and river islands add yet another dimension to birding here. With the cessation of hunting in this region, a wide variety of mammals are also present, and one never knows what surprises may be encountered. There is a lot to see and do during this “short” itinerary!