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EQUATORIAL
PACIFIC COAST
This coastal region of beautiful
deciduous landscapes and warm weather stretches from
the border with Ecuador south to the department of La
Libertad Together with the southeast of Ecuador this
is one of the most important endemic bird-centers in
the world, called the Tumbesian region, holding 54 range-restricted
bird species. Many of these regional endemics are also
peruvian endemics such as White-winged Guan, Tumbes
Hummingbird, Coastal Miner, Surf Cinclodes, Piura Chat-Tyrant,
Tumbes Tyrant, Rufous Flycatcher, Peruvian Plantcutter,
and Bay-crowned Brush-Finch.
PERUVIAN DESERT
Basically no rain a year falls in
this extremely dry region along the Pacific coast, making
it the driest desert in the world together with the
Atacama Desert with which it merges. This narrow strip
of desert runs from Ancash south through Lima to the
border with Chile. Besides some endemic Miners (Coastal,
Common, and Thick-billed Miner) and some sea birds that
nest in the desert (Peruvian Tern and Markham's Storm-Petrel),
few birds can live here. However, the desert is crossed
by 53 fertile, vegetated valleys with unique set of
birds, some of which are endemic to Peru: Black-necked
Woodpecker, Peruvian Sheartail, Cactus Canastero, and
Slender-billed Finch, among others.
PACIFIC
ANDES
The rather dry or semi-humid mountains
on the western (Pacific) side of the Andes have dramatic
landscapes characterized by extreme elevational change.
Such a complex topography, of course, has the potential
for population isolation, and consequently several Peruvian
endemics are found in these habitats, although overall
species diversity is modest. Some of the species found
here are Bronze-Tyrant, White-cheeked Cotinga, Rusty-bellied
Brush-Finch, and Great Inca-Finch, among others.
SIERRA
Embedded between the eastern and
western slopes of the Andes, this vast territory above
3000 m is dominated by puna grasslands but it has plenty
of other habitats like montane scrub, wetlands, and
Polylepis woodland. Birding here, so close to heaven,
might be exhausting since you are often above 4000 m,
but generally the birds can be watched from the roads,
or within short walking distance to patches of forest.
Birds that can be seen here include these Peru endemics:
Black-breasted Hillstar, Dark-winged Miner, White-bellied
Cinclodes, several canasteros, tit-spinetails, and brush-finches,
as well as a number of Polylepis woodland specialists.
MARAÑON
The upper Marañon Valley is
in a rain shadow and is an island of deciduous forest
within the humid Yungas. It also includes part of the
dry middle Huallaga Valley. This "island"
is an important dispersal barrier to many species of
humid areas, adding to the complexity and richness of
the region, another of the most important endemic bird
areas in the world. Endemics to this area are Peruvian
Pigeon, Yellow-faced Parrotlet, Purple-backed Sunbeam,
Marvelous Spatuletail, Marañon Crescent-chest,
four species of Inca-Finches, and several other species.
YUNGAS
This region on the eastern slope
of the Andes not only gets great amounts of rain, it
also captures humidity that evaporates from all over
the Amazon Basin. The Yungas forest, also known as mist
or cloud forest, harbor the highest point diversity
of birds of any region in the world. Birds inhabiting
this region include the Peruvian endemics: Cloud-forest
Screech-Owl, Long-whiskered Owlet, Yellow-browed Toucanet,
Scarlet-banded Barbet, Speckle-chested Piculet, Pale-billed
Antpitta, Peruvian Wren and Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager
and Rufous-browed Hemispingus.
TROPICAL
AMAZONIA NORTH OF THE AMAZON
The Amazonian lowlands of Peru are
part of the vast Amazon basin, a region whose uniform
green appearance conceals a complex and diverse pattern
of lowland forest types, including white-sand forests,
varzea, and river-edge forest. This highly diverse area
has few Peruvian endemics (Allpahuayo Antbird, Black-headed
Antbird, new species of Gnatcatcher) but lots of regional
endemics such as Brown Jacamar, Brown-backed Antwren,
Black-chinned Antbird, White-masked Antbird, Spotted
Antpitta, Helmeted Pygmy-Tyrant, Golden-winged Tody-Flycatcher,
Cinnamon-crested Spadebill, Great Crested Flycatcher,
Pompadour Cotinga, Orange-throated Tanager, Bicolored
Conebill and Ecuadorian Cacique.
TROPICAL
AMAZONIA SOUTH OF THE AMAZON
This region encompasses the eastern
lowlands south of the Amazon river, which is an important
distributional barrier, including most of the department
of Ucayali and most of the lowlands of the department
of Junin. Another region of vast forests, with habitats
similar to those found north of the Amazon. Peruvian
endemics and other specialties in this region include:
Blue-cheeked Jacamar, Rusty-backed Spinetail, Saturnine
Antshrike, Amazonian Black-Tyrant, Three-striped Flycatcher,
Purple-breasted Cotinga, Gray-chested Greenlet, Black-bellied
Tanager, Dotted Tanager and Sira Tanager.
SUBTROPICAL
AMAZONIA
The eastern lowlands in the departments
of Madre de Dios, lowlands of the department of Cuzco
and southern part of the departments of Ucayaliand lowlands
of Junin are part of Subtropical Amazonia, a region
of lowland and lower montane forests with a marked seasonality.
Noted for extremely high diversity of species and large
percentage of protected surface, some of the specialties
of this region are: Fine-barred Piculet, Peruvian Recurvebill,
Bamboo Antshrike, Ihering's Antwren, Rufous-fronted
Antthrush, Slaty Gnateater, Long-crested Pygmy-Tyrant,
White-cheeked Tody-Tyrant, Spectacled Tyrant, Gray Monjita,
Black-faced Cotinga, Flame-crowned Manakin, Black-masked
Finch and Selva Cacique.
THE OCEAN
The Pacific Ocean off the Peruvian
coast is the richest tropical ocean in the world thanks
to the cold Humboldt Currents that produce the nutrient-rich
upwelling on which all marine life is based. The edge
of the Continental Shelf is relatively close, which
makes pelagic birding possible not that far from the
coast. Typical coastal species are Peruvian Tern, Inca
Tern, Nazca Booby, Red-legged Cormorant, Markham's Storm-Petrel,
Surf Cinclodes and some pelagic birds are Waved Albatross,
Peruvian Diving-Petrel, and Ringed Storm-Petrel.
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CESAR P. RIOS