Bird Tours Peru - Central Peru
Central Peru is, unsurprisingly, the endemic hotebed of the country. Birding the Humboldt Current and Atacama Desert on the Pacific Coast, the dry West Andean Slope, the barren but diverse high-elevation puna, and humid forests from the treeline to the beginnings of the Amazon lowlands, you will find a rewarding variety of habitats in this area. Some of the star birds include Humboldt Penguin, Great Inca-Finch, White-cheeked Cotinga, Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Junin Grebe, Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager, Yellow-scarfed Tanager, and Oilbird.
Below the Itinerary Table, you will find a short description of the Base Tour and available extensions, and also a day-by-day itinerary for the most popular route for the area: the Central Peru Base Tour with the Bosque Unchog Extension. It is possible to combine the Base Tour with any combination of the three extensions; Bosque Unchog offers the best set of birds in just two days, while the Villa Rica extension is highly recommended for enjoyable birding and attractive accommodations. For a day-by-day itinerary for any combination that interests you, please email us.
| day | Base Tour | Complete Tour | |
| 1 | Coast to Santa Eulalia | Coast to Santa Eulalia | |
| 2 | Santa Eulalia Valley to Huanza | Santa Eulalia Valley to Huanza | |
| 3 | Marcapomacocha to La Oroya | Marcapomacocha to Huancayo | |
| 4 | Lake Junin to Huanuco | Pariahuanca to Concepcion | Satipo Road Extension |
| 5 | Paty Trail to Tingo Maria | Comas to Mariposa | |
| 6 | Tingo Maria | Mariposa to Villa Rica | |
| 7 | Carpish Tunnel to Huanuco | Villa Rica | Villa Rica Extension |
| 8 | drive to Lima | Villa Rica to Pozuzo | |
| 9 | Lomas de Lachay, evening flights | Pozuzo to Tarma | |
| 10 | Lake Junin to Huanuco | ||
| 11 | Paty Trail to Tingo Maria | ||
| 12 | Tingo Maria | ||
| 13 | Carpish Tunnel to Bosque Unchog | ||
| 14 | Bosque Unchog | Bosque Unchog Extension | |
| 15 | Bosque Unchog to Huanuco | ||
| 16 | drive to Lima | ||
| 17 | Lomas de Lachay, evening flights |
Central Base Tour (9 days)
This Base Tour visits four basic areas: the Pacific coast, the dry West Andean Slopes, High Andean puna , and the humid East Andean Slopes. On the coast, we´ll find specialties like Humboldt Penguin, Surf Cinclodes, Red-legged Cormorant, Cactus Canastero, and Peruvian Thick-knee. Moving up into the Andes, we'll hunt down a variety of endemics, including Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch, Great Inca-Finch, Bronze-tailed Comet, Black Metaltail, and White-cheeked Cotinga. At elevations above 4000 m. in the Andes of Central Peru, many quality birds can be found such as White-bellied Cinclodes, Dark-winged Miner, Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, and Peru's rarest bird, the Junin Grebe, as well as many more widespread Andean species.
The six remaining days of the tour are spent at various elevations on the East Slope, with the focus still on Peruvian endemics. In an intermontane valley, we'll try for Rufous-backed Inca-Finch, Brown-flanked Tanager, Giant Conebill, and Black-crested Tit-Tyrant. In upper “cloud forest” areas we'll find excellent flock birding; some highlights could be Yellow-scarfed Tanager, Peruvian Wren, Unstreaked Tit-Tyrant, and a variety of typical Andean forest birds. Of course, several tapaculos and antpittas are around but hard to see; these include Tschudi's and Rufous-vented Tapaculos and Bay and Chestnut Antpittas (all endemics!). In the Tingo Maria area we'll get a small taste of lowland birding, including Black-bellied Tanager, Blue-headed Macaw, and Brownish-headed Antbird, as well as visiting an Oilbird cave and often picking up Band-bellied Owl in our hotel grounds.
Most of this tour is on decent paved roads, though some time is spent on gravel roads in more remote areas. Most hotels are comfortable, clean, and mid-range (though Huanza is extremely basic).
Extensions
| Satipo Road Extension (add 3 days) |
This short extension is focused on finding a few very rarely-seen special birds. These are the recently-described Black-spectacled Brush-Finch, an undescribed subspecies of Plain-tailed Wren, and other highly localised species like Eye-ringed Thistletail, Fire-throated Metaltail, and Golden-bellied Warbler. The lower Satipo Road is also a good place to sample some lower elevation montane forest, with species like Lanceolated Monklet, Rufous-rumped Antwren, Lyre-tailed Nightjar, and a variety of tanagers and flycatchers possible. On this sidetrip, roads are rough, and one night of camping is required.
| Villa Rica Extension (add 4 days) |
The montane forest we visit on the Base Tour is largely degraded, and although good birds can still be found, the Yanachaga area provides more pristine habitat and enjoyable birding. Additional targets in this area include Creamy-bellied Antwren, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Rufous-bellied Bush-Tyrant, White-bellied Pygmy-Tyrant, and others. Another attraction is the chance to visit a spectacular Andean Cock-of-the-Rock lek. Most roads in this area are gravel, but accommodations are attractive and comfortable.
| Bosque Unchog Extension(add 2 days) |
Bosque Unchog is home to some of the best birds in Peru – we leave it off the main tour because a chance of seeing them requires two nights of camping. The “Big Four” here are Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager, Rufous-browed Hemispingus, Bay-vented Cotinga, and Pardusco. The first two especially are very difficult, but there are lots of other goodies we're more likely to see, including Coppery Metaltail, White-browed Conebill, Golden-collared Tanager, and Line-fronted Canastero. A relatively short but rough drive is required for this extension, as are two nights of camping.
Central Peru Classic Itinerary
This is the day-by-day for most popular birding itinerary for Central Peru, combining the Base Tour with 2 days at Bosque Unchog.
Day 1: Coast South of Lima
We start the tour by heading south to Puerto Viejo and Pucusana; between these two sites we should see nearly all of our targets: Peruvian Thick-knee, Coastal Miner, Surf Cinclodes, Blackish Oysteratcher, Inca Tern, Humbolt Penguin, Red-legged Cormorant, and a variety of more common species. In the afternoon we'll drive up to Santa Eulalia. Hotel in Santa Eulalia.
Day 2: Santa Eulalia Valley
The spectacular scenery of the Santa Eulalia Valley provides an appropriate backdrop for tracking down a number of rare endemic birds. Our primary targets are the extremely localized Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch and Great Inca-Finch; while looking for them we're likely to encounter other goodies like Bronze-tailed Comet, Black Metaltail, and Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail - all Peruvian endemics. More common species we'll encounter through the day include Canyon Canastero, Giant Hummingbird, Peruvian Sheartail, White-capped Dipper, White-winged Cinclodes, and Torrent Duck. Hotel in Huanza (very basic but good to acclimatize for tomorrow's high elevations.)
Day 3: Milloc-Marcopomacocha
This is one of the most exciting birding days in Peru, in spite of a relatively low total species count due to the high elevation - almost every bird we'll see is a specialty! We'll start by scouring a patch of Polylepis forest for the rare White-cheeked Cotinga. Other birds here include Stripe-headed Antpitta and Striated Earthcreeper. We'll then move up the Milloc Valley, ticking off puna birds on the way: Black Siskin and Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch are common, while we'll concentrate on finding Black-breasted Hillstar and a variety of canasteros (including the endemic Junin Canastero) and ground-tyrants (including the rare migrant Black-fronted Ground-Tyrant). In the afternoon we'll bird the famous Marcapomacocha area where we will hope for a plethora of special birds, including the enigmatic Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, the stunning White-bellied Cinclodes, and the incongruous Olivaceous Thornbill. We'll return to paved roads in the late afternoon, after a tiring day of birding and bumping along dirt roads. Hotel in La Oroya.
Day 4: Lake Junin
We'll do whatever present conditions require to find the Critically Endangered Junin Grebe this morning. Currently we plan to take a small motor boat out into the deeper parts of Lake Junin to ensure good views of this hard-to-identify bird. There are many other interesting birds at Lake Junin, including Plumbeous Rail, Puna Plover, and a variety of waterfowl. Chilean Flamingos are sometimes present. We'll drive on towards Huanuco in the afternoon, stopping to look for Black-crested Tit-Tyrant, Giant Conebill, Thick-billed Siskin, and a few more endemics such as Brown-flanked Tanager and Baron's Spinetail on the way. Hotel in Huanuco.
Day 5: Paty Trail
We'll spend most of the day at the Paty Trail, one of Central Peru's most famous birding sites. Though the habitat is unprotected and more degraded each year, many good birds can still be found. A few of the candidates include Peruvian Tyrannulet, Rufous-vented Tapaculo, and Bay Antpitta, all Peruvian endemics. If we're lucky, we'll also experience some good general flocks bringing us a diversity of tanagers, flycatchers and furnariids. In the afternoon we'll descend to Tingo Maria, perhaps giving Band-bellied Owl a try at dusk. Hotel outside Tingo Maria.
Day 6: Tingo Maria Oilbirds
East of Tingo Maria we can find some remnant forest patches still home to some good birds, including Rufous-crested, Orange-eared and Golden-naped Tanagers, Masked Fruiteater (rare and endemic!), and many others. In the afternoon we'll bird around Tingo Maria National Park. Though trails are rather limited, there are a few and we'll try for the endemic Black-bellied Tanager, Brownish-headed Antbird, Fiery-capped Manakin, and a variety of other Amazonian bird species. Of course, we'll take some time off to visit the spectacular Oibird cave as well. Hotel outside Tingo Maria.
Day 7: Carpish Tunnel to Bosque Unchog
Leaving the biodiverse foothills behind, we'll move back to higher elevations today to continue our quest for endemics. This morning we'll especially be looking for Yellow-scarfed Tanager, Unstreaked Tit-Tyrant, and Peruvian Wren, while Chestnut Antpitta is also a distinct possibility at this site. In the afternoon we'll make the rough drive up to Bosque Unchog, where we'll set up camp for the night.
Days 8 & 9: Bosque Unchog
We'll have a day and a half to explore this most important site of the trip. The "Big Four" here - Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager, Rufous-browed Hemispingus, Bay-vented Cotinga and Pardusco - are all among Peru's best birds. But there are other goodies to be found, among them Golden-collared Tanager, Coppery Metaltail, Tscudi's, Neblina, and Large-footed Tapaculos, Line-fronted Canastero, Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant, Ochraceous-breasted Flycatcher, and the obscura race of Rufous Antpitta. In the afternoon on Day 8 we'll return to Huanuco for a much needed night in a good hotel.
Day 10: Back to Lima
We'll need most of the day to drive back to Lima, but in the morning we'll take a stab at one of Peru's most difficult endemics: the Rufous-backed Inca-Finch. Depending how the drive goes, we may make other stops, perhaps trying for Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe or Black-faced Ibis. Night in Lima.
Day 11: Lomas de Lachay
Today we'll go for our last endemics, including Cactus Canastero, Thick-billed Miner, and the nomadic Raimondi's Yellow-Finch, while more widespread specialties at Lomas de Lachay include Greyish Miner, Tawny-throated Dotterel, and Least Seedsnipe. Later we'll visit a coastal lagoon to try for Peruvian Tern and a wide range of migratory sandpipers among others. We'll be back in Lima for late afternoon flights.
Price Information
| Price p.p. in US dollars | Central Peru - 18/10 days | ||
| Number of pax | 2 | 3 | 4-7 |
| 18 days + bird guide | 4750 | 3450 | 2800 |
| 10 days + bird guide | 2570 | 1880 | 1540 |
| 10 days - bird guide | 1870 | 1400 | 1190 |
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| TANAGER TOURS | ||
| Lima - Peru | ||
| Phone: | +51 1 9858 36609 | |
| e-mail: | info@tanagertours.com | |
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