Birding Cusco & Manu Road
10 Days & 9 Nights
Birding Birdwatching Manu Road
Birding Birdwatching Manu Road
An extraordinary birding adventure along the legendary Manu Road and Cusco This 10-day birding tour, offers you a gateway to a world of avian wonders, let’s travel around Cusco birding hotspots where rare and endemic species abound, preparing to be enchanted by the symphony of nature that remains in Manu. Let the sights, sounds, and serenity of this untamed paradise leave an indelible mark on your soul as you embark on an unforgettable journey into the heart of Peru’s avian paradise.
Birding Birdwatching Manu Road
Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival in Cusco, transfer to Limatambo
Early morning pick up from the airport, arriving you will meet your guide and driver, toguether you will cross the town, and drive to north west, along the way we stop in the first andean lake, Here you will look for some high Andean wetland species and some prey birds like, American Kestrel, Aplomado Falcon, Cinereous Harrier, Variable Hawk and Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle depending on the season, migrant boreal or austral shorebirds (waders) may be present. We’ll keep driving toward Limatambo area, dry intermontane valley with some localizes species: Pale-tailed Canastero, White-eared Puffbird, taczanowski’s Tinamou.
night birding can give us some good rewards: Koepcke’s Screech-owl (Peruvian endemic) and rare and Local Buff-fronted Owl, next to Great-horned Owl.
Night in Mollepata.
Birding Birdwatching Manu Road
Day 2: Birding at Mollepata area
You will spend most of the day in Mollepata valley, here we will look for Apurimac specialties we will be able to find Apurimac endemic, our targets are Apurimac Spinetail, Apurimac Brush-Finch, Pale-Tailed Canastero, Vilcabamba Tapaculo, chestnut-Breasted Mountain-Finch, Creamy-Crested Spinetail, White-Tufted sunbeam, Rusty-Fronted Canastero all of them endemic species additionally we’ll get Black-Tailed Trainbearer, Mountain Velvetbreast, Red-Crested cotinga, Tit-Like Dacnis, Crimson-Mantled woodpecker, in the afternoon we will drive to Ollantaytambo where we have a garden birding, Bearded Mountaineer, Green and White Hummingbird (endemics) will be our target.
Night in Ollantaytambo.
Day 3: Birding day at Abra Malaga, Humid Forest
Today we drive towards the Malaga pass, where we will see a complete different habitat: the upper cloud forest starting at a large patch of Chusquea bamboo We’ll hope especially to encounter some good mixed flocks which could contain Parodi’s Hemispingus(rare in the area), Unstreaked Tit-Tyrant, Cusco Brush-Finch, Marcapata Spinetail Inca wren (Peruvian endemic Birds) Puna Thistletail, White-browed Conebill, White-throated and White-banded and Tawny-rumped Tyrannulet, Three-stripe Hemispingus and Black-capped / white Browed Hemispingus, Plush-capped Finch (or Plushcap) and many others. Undulated and Rufous Antpittas are frequently heard calling but are very hard to see, as are Diademed and Trilling Tapaculos.
Hummingbirds to look for include Amethyst-throated Sunangel, Saphire-vented Puffleg, Scaled Metaltail and Sword-billed Hummingbird. the restricted-range Pale-footed Swallow, Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager, Blue-Capped Tanager, Scarlet-Bellied Mountain-Tanager, and other Tanagers On the way back we look for Junin canastero Cream-Winged and White-winged Cinclodes, and some andean Species.
Night in Ollantaytambo.
Day 4: Birding Abra Malaga, Polylepis Forest
We’ll drive until the Pass from where we hike up to the Polylepis forest to explore this unique habitat. The three best birds to be found here are Royal Cinclodes, Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant and White-browed Tit-Spinetail. While these, especially the highly sought-after cinclodes, are sometime elusive, there are many other Possibilities include Line-fronted Canastero, Streak-Throated Canastero, Tawny Tit-Spinetail, Puna Tapaculo, Blue-mantled Thornbill and Giant Conebill. Stripe-headed Antpitta, Andean Flicker on the valley floor we’ll check a variety of Ground-tyrants, Sierra-Finchs and Seed Eaters In the afternoon we’ll drive to Cusco. Regular to good physical conditions are needed.
Night in Cusco.
Birding Manu Road Tour
Day 5: Birding drive to upper Manu Road
We’ll spend the morning birding at Huacarpay Lake , looking for wetland species like Many-coloured Rush-Tyrant and Plumbeous Rail and searching the adjacent scrub for Rusty-fronted Canastero, Streak-fronted Thornbird and a variety of others. We’ll then make the drive through the dry Andes towards Manu, hoping to find three endemics en route: Chestnut-breasted Mountain-Finch, Bearded Mountaineer, and Creamy-crested Spinetail. In the afternoon we’ll have our first crack at the humid forest, hoping for treeline specialties like Golden-collared Tanager, Moustached Flowerpiercer, and – with lots of luck – the rare Scribble-tailed Canastero.”
Late in the day, we will have our first chance for one of the enigmatic and endemic Red-and-white Antpitta.
We spend the night in the humid montane forest, enjoying the stars with the opportunity to look for some nocturnal birds located in this area: Yungas Pygmy-Owl, Rufous-banded Owl, Swallow-tailed Nightjar.
Night in Wayquecha Lodge.
Day 6: Birding at 1500 m. in Middle Manu Road
After a morning around Wayqecha, looking for more high-elevation species like Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucan, Red-and-white Antpitta, Puna Thistletail, Marcapata Spinetail, Rufous-capped Thornbill, and many others, we’ll work our way down the Manu Road, birding the most productive areas. Possibilities are nearly endless, from relatively common specialties like Blue-banded Toucanet and Handsome Flycatcher to mega-rarities like Greater Scythebill and Andean Potoo. We should encounter some good flocks that could include a variety of tanagers as well as Versicolored Barbet, Striped Treehunter, Inca Flycatcher, and even Band-tailed Fruiteater if we’re lucky. In the not-so-rare but difficult category are Hazel-fronted Pygmy-Tyrant, Unadorned Flycatcher, and White-throated Antpitta.
We will spend the night in cloud forest in more temperate environment, less than the previous night, in the ideal habitat for the Cock of the rock.
Night in Cock of the Rock Lodge.
Day 7-8: Birding at Manu Cloud Forest
We’ll have 2 full days around Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge – this is tanager paradise! Depending what birds we need, we’ll visit elevations from 800 m. – up to 2500 m.
We can expect at least a couple great mixed flocks during our stay which could include Golden-eared (uncommon), Golden-naped, Black-goggled, Orange-Eared, Fawn-breasted, Yellow-throated, Spotted, Paradise, Golden, Bay-headed, and Black-goggled Tanagers, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Olive-backed Woodcreeper, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Grey-mantled Wren, Streak-necked, Slaty-capped and Lemon-browed Flycatchers, the restricted-range Bolivian Tyrannulet, Marble-faced Bristle-Tyrant, Tropical Parula, Russet-crowned and Three-striped Warblers, Slate-throated Whitestart, Golden-eyed (or Deep-blue) and Bluish Flower-piercers, Blue-naped Chlorophonia, the restricted-range Slaty Tanager, Yellow-throated and Common Bush-Tanagers, Black-faced (or Dark-faced) Brush-Finch (split from Rufous-naped). There is even an undescribed tanager species known from this location ( “Bamboo Tanager” – “San Pedro Tanager” ), although it appears to be very rare, Yellow-rumped and Yellow-breasted Antwren, Ash-browed Spinetail, and many, many more.
Aside from flocks, we’ll search for Crested and Golden-Headed Quetzal, Andean and White-eared Solitaires, Amazonian Umbrellabird, and Solitary and Black-and-chestnut Eagles, rare and Difficult to detect Black-Streaked Puffbird.
The lodge gardens are visited by Many-spotted Hummingbird, Violet-fronted Brilliant, Booted Racket-Tail, and others, sometimes including Wire-crested Thorntail and the rare Buff-Tailed Sicklebill and of course Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks are frequently seen in the area – if all else fails, we can visit a lek!
Behind the garden there is a trail system where we can look for Chestnut-breasted Wren, Scaled Antpitta, Rufous-breasted and Short-tailed Antthrush’s, Slaty Gnateater and the endemic Cerulean-capped Manakin (very rare). Night birding is usually slow, but we should see Lyre-tailed Nightjar, Band-Bellied Owl and Rufescent Screech-Owl is also a possibility.
Night in Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge.
Day 9: Full day of birding in the lowland forest, around 400 to 200 m.
We leave early for “Machuwasi”, an Amazonian lake to enjoy the resident aquatic fauna in raft boats. The Hoatzin is probably the highlight here, one of the strangest birds in the world with a punky prehistoric look, its slow movements make it easy to spot. Alligators, capybaras, flytraps and waterfowl are regularly present in the lake itself. Later we will visit a tower that rises above the forest and walk along some surrounding trails where Cotingas, Arasarís, Woodcreepers, Trogons, Puffbirds, Capuchin Monkeys, Squirrel Monkeys or Titi Monkeys are often found here. We return to our car and go to the next lodge to have lunch and spend the afternoon at a hummingbird feeders to understand this wonderful and delicate ecosystem where the spectacular Rufous-crested Coquette frequently visits the flowers; You can also photograph to different tanagers and enjoy a moment of relaxation in this peaceful garden.
Night in Pilcopata.
Birding Manu Road Tour
Day 10: Morning birding and return to Cusco
After a delicious breakfast we leave back to the mountains and stop in case we have missed some sought after species such as the Cock of the Rock, the Quetzal or the Trogons. Stop along the way for lunch and return to Cusco mid-afternoon. Arriving in Cusco we will transfer you to the airport for your next destination.
Details
Group size:
from 2 to 8 people.
Individual price:$3,769 $3,580 USD
Group price:$3,299 $3,076 USD
per person
Departure dates:
All year available at request.
The tour includes:
- Private transport
- Bird specialist guide
- Accommodation in comfortable hotels & Lodges
- All meals, full board
- Mineral water, fresh fruit, snacks
- Pick-up from the airport
- Entrances fees to national and private reserves
- Gratuities (optional)
- Private transport
- Bird specialist guide
- Accommodation in the best lodges
- Private Boat Transportation
- All meals
- Mineral water, fresh fruit, snacks
- Pick-up from airport or hotel
- Entrances fees to national and private reserves
- Gratuities (optional)
EVERY DAY
Departures
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Birdwatching Birding Manu Road
