Day 15--Milpe Bird Sanctuary

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2
Birding: Septimo Paraiso morning; afternoon Mindo and Milpe Bird Sanctuary
Night at Septimo Paraiso Lodge, near Mindo

This morning we first birded the entry road into Septimo Paraiso. Last night Edgar and Willy had started for Mindo “in order to use their cell phones,” but their adventure was thwarted by a tree that had fallen across the drive. The hotel management removed the tree from the road, but the clearing created provided us with great views of a beautiful Scaled Fruiteater. Along the road we also saw a White-winged Becard and a Black-striped Sparrow, and a pair of Toucan Barbets. Rose Ann told us that Toucan Barbets now represent a separate family comprised solely of this species (Semnornis ramphastinus) and the Prong-billed Barbet (Semnornis frantzii) of Costa Rica and west Panama.

Scaled Fruiteater,Ian Davies; White-winged Becard, Wikimedia; Black-striped Sparrow, Lubos Mraz

We also saw a Boat-billed Flycatcher along the road and enjoyed the Yellow-collared Chlorophonias that were feeding on the fruit at Septimo Paraiso’s banana feeder. 

Toucan Barbets, Jenz Gemz ; Boat-billed Flycatcher, Nick Athanas; Yellow-collared Cholorphonia, Jose Illanes

In the afternoon we stopped at the 475-acre Mindo Cloudforest Association’s Milpe Bird Sanctuary, a Chocó-Andean foothills reserve. According to their website, “birding guides consider this one of the finest sites in all of Ecuador, and many of the most spectacular Chocó Endemics occur here.” Along the road to Milpe we all saw a Bronze-winged Parrot (scoped from the road), Broad-billed Motmot, Choco Toucan, and Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner. It was here also that we got “up close and personal” with a group of Ornate Flycatchers, the ones Rose Ann describes as having a “bright yellow rump and white ‘headlamps.’” These small, active birds were fun to watch.

(L to R) Ornate Flycatcher, Sam Woods; Broad-billed Motmot, Octavio Rios; Choco Toucan, Dusan Brinkhuizen

When we arrived at the Milpe Bird Sanctuary, it was raining, my Imodium had failed me last night, and my cold was nearly full-blown, so I opted to sit under a thatched roof observation area and look at the hummingbirds while the others hiked down a trail in the rain. At these Milpe nectar feeders I saw Green-Thorntail, Purple-bibbed Whitetip, Green-crowned Woodnymph, and Green-crowned Brilliant, the brilliant being the dominant hummer at these feeders. Of course there were several other familiar hummingbird species, including the gorgeous Velvet-Purple Coronet that we had first seen at Guango.

(L to R) Green Thorntail, Roger Ahlman; Purple-bibbed Whitetip, Flickr ; Green-crowned Woodnymph, Steve Blain; Green-crowned Brilliant, Larry Thompson

Red-tailed Squirrel; photo, Biri Haui

Harvey was a bit worn down by the rain and declined the trail hike also, so we two sat together observing the hummers. Before long Sally appeared, having walked back up the trail. We three enjoyed sitting quietly on a protected bench before the ranger’s station where we could observe the banana feeder. While we were observing, a red-tailed squirrel dashed in and stole a whole banana. The thief!

Pallid Dove; photo, Roger Ahlman

The banana feeder was visited by several species, most notable of which were a Pallid Dove and a Collared Aracari. The Aracari would bite off a piece of banana with its bill, tip its head back, open its bill comically—tongue sticking out—and let the piece of banana fall to the back of its throat. Then it would gape, bob, and gulp to swallow it Sally got a great photo of it.

Collared Aracari at the banana feeder

By the time the aracari arrived, the main group had returned from the trail. Rose Ann writes of the “Collared Aracari (Stripe-billed), a.k.a. Pale-mandibled Aracari: The race erythropygius (Pale-mandibled) and the race sanguineus (Stripe-billed) are being distinguished in Clements from the Middle American birds by subgrouping them together and referring to the subgroup as ‘Stripe-billed.’ But the birds we saw so well at Milpe, were of the Pale-mandibled race erythropygius.”

The trail group report was rosy. Some had managed to see a male and female Golden-winged Manikin before the rain increased. The group had a much better look at the Club-winged Manakin at its lek where several males were actively displaying despite the dark, rainy weather. The trail group also saw a Golden-bellied Warbler, a Choco specialty. Of this bird, Rose Ann writes: “The Choco Golden-bellied Warbler sounds entirely different from the Golden-bellied Warbler of central and southern Peru, from which it is split by some (and we think, rightfully so!). But the conservative Clements Checklist still retains it as a race of chrysogaster.”

The trail group also saw a Collared Trogan and a Russett Antshrike. Listing all these wonderful birds now—from the warmth and dryness of my home—I wish that I’d had the stamina to bird the trail with the rest of the group.

Top: Silver-throated Tanager, Luis Vargas
Mid: Golden-naped Tanager, Glenn Bartley
Bott: Yellow-throated Bush Tanager, Derek Kverno

I also saw today a Silver-throated Tanager, a bird common to my 2006 Cloud-forest Birds of Ecuador Earthwatch Expedition; the western version of the Flame-faced Tanager, the Golden-naped Tanager, and Yellow-throated Bush Tanager. Speaking of tanagers, the Milpe trail group also saw the heavy-billed Ochre-breasted Tanager, which Rose Ann says “is not a ‘true tanager’ but a Cardinalid.’” I cannot find a good photo of it on the Internet.

In late morning we birded the Mindo River/Nambillo area, just outside of Mindo, but I can’t recall this area well. Bev helped me remember that we had a bird in our binocs when a guy on a motorbike wanted to enter the gateway we were blocking, and I think this is where we saw Snowy Egrets along the river and looked in vain for a Sun Bittern in a horse pasture near the river, but . . .

I took only six photos today at the Milpe nectar and banana feeders, but my camera cannot bring the birds in close enough, so not one of them could touch those of the hummers on the Internet or Sally’s aracari photo.

(T) Eastern Flame-faced Tanager,
(B) Western Flame-faced Tanager