Ecuador is home to some 1,600 species of resident and migratory birds. With such a wide range in ecosystems, altitude, terrain, and habitat, you'll have to travel around the country some to get a full sense of the diversity. Many of the popular birding destinations in Ecuador have species counts well over 300 to 400.
Enjoying the Mists and Multitude of Species Found in the Cloud Forests of Mindo & Bellavista: Cloud forests are unique ecosystems, renowned for their biological abundance. Located under 2 hours north of Quito, the cloud forests of Mindo and Bellavista are rich and rewarding stops for birders and nature lovers of all stripes. Over 400 species of birds have been recorded here, and experts believe the actual count is much higher. El Monte (tel. 09/3084-675; www.ecuadorcloudforest.com) and Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve (tel. 02/2116-232; www.bellavistacloudforest.com) are two excellent lodges from which to base your bird-watching expeditions of this area.
Spotting Some of the More Than 600 Species in Podocarpus National Park: This remote national park runs from a high of 3,700m (11,811 ft.) down to some 1,000m (3,281 ft.) above sea level, and contains ecosystems that range from high paramo to cloud forest and rainforest. The most common jumping-off points for visiting here are Loja and Vilcabamba. If you're looking for an excellent personal guide, contact Jorge Luis at Caminatas Andes Sureños (tel. 07/2673-147)
Catching Sight of Hundreds of Species in El Oriente: The mid-elevation and lowland rainforests of Ecuador's El Oriente are prime bird-watching areas. Many lodges in this region have on-site bird-species lists that number 400 or more. Several species of macaws frolic overhead, while the prehistoric hoatzin inhabits the low branches of riverside trees. Just about any of the lodges in El Oriente can be considered top bird-watching destinations, but I recommend the Napo Wildlife Center (www.napowildlifecenter.com), which has a couple of parrot licks right on their grounds, where as many as several thousand mixed flock parrots may gather on any day to extract minerals and nutrients from an exposed clay river bank.
Seeing Endemic Species on the Galápagos Islands: What can you say? From the 13 species of Darwin's finches, to the only subtropical penguin, to the unique flightless cormorant, the Galápagos provide the greatest one-stop spot to check off a whole host of once-in-a-lifetime birds from your life's list. In fact, around half of all the bird fauna on the Galápagos is endemic, meaning you can only see them here.
