Ecuador Bird Photography: Andes & Chocó

Begin your journey with arrival in Quito, where your guide Tristan meets you at the airport. A transfer takes you from Quito Airport to San Jorge Eco-lodge, your base for the night. After hotel check-in, settle into your room and relax before the tour orientation. During this first meeting, Tristan covers the itinerary highlights and shares initial tips for making the most of your trip. The day closes with a welcome dinner, offering a relaxed introduction to your Ecuador adventure before returning to San Jorge Eco-lodge in Quito.

After breakfast, drive to the Antpitta Feeding Station at San Jorge Eco-lodge in the Andean foothills, where patient fieldcraft may reveal Rufous, Chestnut-crowned, and Chestnut-naped Antpittas, alongside hummingbirds and mountain tanagers. Lunch is followed by an afternoon at the lodge’s hummingbird feeders, with close-up opportunities for Sword-billed Hummingbird, trainbearers, Sparkling Violetear, Tyrian Metaltail, Shining Sunbeam, and White-bellied Woodstar. Between sessions, photograph birds around the lodge gardens, including Tufted Tit-Tyrant, Crimson-mantled Woodpecker, Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, and Red-crested Cotinga. Dinner precedes the return to Quito.

After breakfast, transfer from San Jorge Eco-lodge to San Jorge Eco-lodge Tandayapa Hummingbird Sanctuary. Spend the afternoon photographing hummingbirds from the lodge gardens, where feeders, flowering plants, and natural perches attract species such as Sword-billed Hummingbird, Violet-tailed Sylph, and Booted Racket-tail. The gardens also offer chances to photograph Andean birds including Crimson-mantled Woodpecker and Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager. An afternoon hummingbird photography session continues, with optional nearby forest trails where cloud forest species may appear. Lunch and dinner round out the day.

Begin before sunrise with Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek photography at San Jorge Eco-lodge Tandayapa Hummingbird Sanctuary, watching males display from a hide. Return for included breakfast, then enjoy free time before a generic lunch. In the afternoon, visit a hummingbird feeding station for close photography of the Empress Brilliant and Velvet-purple Coronet. End the day with a generic dinner at the lodge, surrounded by cloud forest.

After breakfast and hotel check out, transfer from Tandayapa and descend from the Andes into the Chocó cloud forest, arriving at San Jorge Eco-lodge Milpe in about an hour. Check in, then enjoy a Chocó hummingbird photography session at the lodge feeders and gardens. Later, photograph colorful birds at the banana feeders, followed by lunch. In the afternoon, use the canopy observation deck for forest canopy photography before visiting the San Jorge Eco-lodge Tandayapa Hummingbird Sanctuary.

After breakfast, transfer from Tandayapa to Balcón Tumpiki on the western slope of the Andes. At the bird feeders, photograph Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan from a hide, along with Sickle-winged Guan, Blue-capped Tanager, Dusky Bush Tanager and Black-chinned Mountain Tanager. Continue to Nanegalito for hummingbird photography featuring Velvet-purple Coronet, Empress Brilliant, Brown Inca and Speckled Hummingbird. Transfer back to Tandayapa, then spend the afternoon photographing gardens and feeders at San Jorge Eco-lodge Milpe before dinner at San Jorge Eco-lodge Tandayapa Hummingbird Sanctuary.

Begin before sunrise at a Long-wattled Umbrellabird lek, photographing displaying males from a dedicated hide in the Chocó forest, with chances for Gartered Trogon, Golden-headed Quetzal, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Smoky-brown Woodpecker and Ornate Hawk-Eagle. After breakfast, continue with afternoon hummingbird photography at San Jorge Eco-lodge Milpe, using the active feeders from the restaurant and gardens. Then check out, transfer from San Jorge Eco-lodge Milpe to San Jorge Eco-lodge – Quito, and check in to settle in for the evening.

After breakfast, Day 8 heads to Antisana National Park for a morning of Andean Condor and páramo bird photography along the park’s roads and viewpoints. A stop at a high-altitude Antisana lagoon offers chances to photograph waterbirds and páramo specialists against the Antisana Volcano. In the afternoon, visit a hummingbird feeding station for Giant Hummingbird and Great Sapphirewing photography. The day closes with a farewell dinner before returning to San Jorge Eco-lodge in Quito.

After breakfast and hotel check out in Quito, transfer to Papallacta Pass, where high-Andean bird photography targets Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, Blue-mantled Thornbill and Ecuadorian Hillstar amid dramatic páramo. Continue to Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve for cloud forest photography of Black-backed Bush Tanager, Masked Mountain Tanager and Golden-crowned Tanager. At El Quetzal Protected Forest near Cuyuja, hummingbird feeders attract Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Tourmaline Sunangel and Glowing Puffleg. A Cuyuja River walk seeks Torrent Duck, then check in at San Jorge Eco-lodge Guacamayos for dinner.

Begin before sunrise with Eastern Andean Cock-of-the-rock Lek Photography, using a hide to photograph males displaying in the eastern cloud forest. Later, enjoy Guacamayos Hummingbird Photography at the lodge feeders and gardens, with species such as Long-tailed Sylph and Greenish Puffleg. After breakfast, continue with Cloud Forest Balcony Bird Photography at San Jorge Eco-lodge Guacamayos, where fruiting trees and forest edge attract tanagers, flowerpiercers, and fruiteaters. Lunch and dinner round out a full day of photography at the lodge.

Day 11 begins with breakfast before a morning return to the Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek at San Jorge Eco-lodge Guacamayos, offering another chance to photograph displaying birds under different conditions. After lunch, the afternoon focuses on eastern slope hummingbird photography at a feeding station, with possible species including Collared Inca, Violet-fronted Brilliant, Green-fronted Lancebill, and Green-backed Hillstar. Before returning to the lodge, the route includes Torrent Duck photography along clear mountain rivers, with other riverine birds and eastern Andes scenery. Dinner closes the day at San Jorge Eco-lodge Guacamayos.

Start with breakfast before bird photography around the reserve, where forest edge and gardens attract Amazonian species such as Red-crested Finch, Silvery-beaked Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Lafresnaye’s Piculet, Coppery-chested Jacamar, Spotted Tanager, and Rufous-breasted Wood-Quail, with Military Macaw and Orange-breasted Falcon occasionally encountered. After lunch, a short drive reaches Narupayacu Hummingbirds Garden in the lower Guacamayos Valley, where flowering gardens draw Wire-crested Thorntail, Napo Sabrewing, Violet-headed Hummingbird, Rufous-throated Sapphire, Black-throated Brilliant, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Gould’s Jewelfront, Blue-fronted Lancebill, Green Hermit, Many-spotted Hummingbird, Ecuadorian Piedtail, and Pink-throated Brilliant, with possible Spangled Coquette. Dinner follows, then overnight at San Jorge Eco-lodge Guacamayos.

Begin your final day with breakfast included in the package, followed by a free morning for a photo review, last photo session, or souvenir shopping, with a photoshop session and advice from Tristan if you wish. After hotel check out, transfer from San Jorge Eco-lodge Guacamayos to Quito Airport for your departure. We drop you off at the airport for your flight back home, closing out your Ecuador adventure.