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Ecuador - Bird Photography Tour

© Black-throated Brilliant by Adam Riley
Ecuador - Bird Photography Tour 2028

20 Jan 2028 - 01 Feb 2028 (13 days)

USD6,500 SPACES AVAILABLE

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Tour Leader: James Wade Lee

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Tour Price (Per person): USD6,500 (GBP5,004 * EUR5,769 * AUD9,414)

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated, and dates may change*

Ecuador - Bird Photography Tour 2029

05 Feb 2029 - 17 Feb 2029 (13 days)

USD6,500 SPACES AVAILABLE

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Tour Leader: Alexander Alvarado

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Tour Price (Per person): USD6,500 (GBP5,004 * EUR5,769 * AUD9,414)

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated, and dates may change*

Ecuador is fortuitously situated within the heart of a fantastically diverse habitat array, ranging from the high Andes to excellent lowland rainforest. Ecuador’s small size, good infrastructure, unsurpassable scenery, and friendly people make it one of the planet’s most delightful birding destinations. Our dedicated Bird Photo Tour seeks to enjoy an incredible selection of Ecuador’s avian wonders and the various lodges and accessible feeders that we will visit superbly augment our overall experience.

Highlights

  • Visit many of Ecuador’s most famous sites that include some stunningly scenic locations including Antisana and Pichincha Volcano’s and the incredible Papallacta Pass.
  • Feeders abound throughout our route which attract numerous species. These provide fantastic photo opportunities of many different species from stunning hummingbirds to flashy tanagers.
  • Comfortable accommodation, many of which are built to be specialist birding lodges.
  • Refugio Paz, one of the most amazing bird shows on earth where several extremely cryptic species can be coaxed into view.
  • Visit to an Oilbird roost cave, an iconic monotypic family species.
  • Short travel distances between lodges, extensive birding habitat throughout.
  • Opportunities for Giant Hummingbird, the largest hummingbird in the world.

Top Birds

Andean Cock-of-the-rock; Andean Condor; Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe; Orange-breasted & Scaled Fruiteaters; Golden-winged, White-bearded & Club-winged Manakins; Beautiful Jay; Black Solitaire; Oilbird; Glistening-green, Moss-backed, Grey-and-gold, Rufous-throated, Blue-whiskered, Scarlet-browed, Saffron-crowned, Beryl-spangled, Flame-faced, Black-capped, Grass-green, Golden-crowned, White-capped & Ochre-breasted Tanagers; Buff-breasted, Masked, Blue-winged and Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanagers; Black-headed & Rufous-breasted Antthrushes; Giant, Moustached, Yellow-breasted, White-bellied, Peruvian, Slaty-crowned, Crescent-faced & Ochre-breasted Antpittas; Dark-backed Wood Quail; Golden-headed Quetzal; Chocó Trogon; Toucan Barbet; Pale-mandibled Aracari; Plate-billed Mountain & Chocó Toucans; Ecuadorian, White-tailed & Green-backed Hillstars; Black-tailed Trainbearer; Great Sapphirewing; Purple-backed, Black-mantled, Blue-mantled, Purple-mantled & Rainbow-bearded Thornbills; Shining Sunbeam; Giant, Speckled, Many-spotted, Violet-headed & Sword-billed Hummingbirds; Collared & Bronzy Incas; Long-tailed & Violet-tailed Sylphs; Tourmaline Sunangel; Chestnut-breasted, Velvet-purple & Buff-tailed Coronets; Mountain Avocetbill; Tyrian & Viridian Metaltails; White-bellied, Purple-throated & Gorgeted Woodstars; Glowing, Sapphire-vented, Black-breasted, Hoary & Golden-breasted Pufflegs; Violet-fronted, Black-throated, Empress, Green-crowned & Fawn-breasted Brilliants; White-booted & Peruvian Racket-tails; Geoffrey’s Wedgebill; Brown Violetear; Bronzy & Brown Incas; Green & Sparkling Violetears; Gould’s Jewelfront; Golden-tailed Sapphire; Napo Sabrewing; Rufous-vented & Purple-bibbed Whitetips; Golden-tailed Sapphire; Blue-fronted Lancebill; Wire-crested & Green Thorntails; Fork-tailed & Crowned Woodnymphs; Green & White-whiskered Hermits; Ecuadorian Piedtail; White-tipped Sicklebill; Buff-winged Starfrontlet; White-necked Jacobin; Andean Emerald.

Top Mammals

White-tailed Deer; Andean Fox; Mountain Tapir (rare); Olingito; Tayra; Spectacled Bear (rare)

Habitats Covered

temperate tree line forest, subtropical cloud-forest, tropical foothill forest and tropical lowland forest all in the Chocó bioregion, paramo grasslands and highland lakes, polylepis forest, temperate cloud-forest, upper and lower subtropical cloud-forest

Expected Climate

chilly to hot and humid (very pleasant temperatures on most days)

Max Group Size

8 with 1 Rockjumper leader & local birding leader

Tour Pace & Walking

UNDEMANDING: This tour is ideal for birders and wildlife enthusiasts of all experience levels. It’s suitable for most mobility levels and offers a relaxed pace, ensuring an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Undemanding. Suitable for all birding / wildlife interest levels. Our Bird Photo Tours are a hybrid between our Classic birding tours and dedicated photographic tours. You don’t have to be a professional photographer or have the biggest lens; this is for everyone with an interest in photography and birding. Whether you’re using a bridge camera or the latest body and prime lens, our aims are the same. • These tours are not aimed at seeing the most species possible on the route, rather taking time to photograph key targets and any other interesting species we may find. Naturally, the overall species list will be lower than a comparable birding focused tour. • Whilst we may use blinds, feeders and hide setups on some of these tours, we will not be spending an entire day nor even several hours fixed in one spot. • These tours are suitable for photographers who prefer opportunistic photography over entire days in a hide. • Our leaders will assist in helping everyone secure good photographic opportunities and advise as much as they can on camera setup. However, they are not professional photographic tour leaders.

Accommodation

Comfortable.

Ease of Birding

Mostly undemanding. Birding is primarily at lodge feeders & trails, roadside or in parks/preserves.

Photographic Opportunities

Good to very good, numerous feeders.

What our clients say about us

Lev Frid
GS, Ecuador 2021

I had a great time on the two Ecuador tours. I have been wanting to bird with Lev Frid since I viewed his webinar on Mexico, and he was every bit as fun and as good a guide as I thought that he would be. Lev's cheerful energy and care for his tour members were always evident, and his bird finding and identifying skills were superb. He worked hard to make sure that everyone was able to see the birds whenever possible, and he dealt with the varying experience levels of the various tour members very well. The list of tour members changed from tour to tour, with a wide range of ages, birding agendas, and personalities. Lev took it all in stride and provided what I considered to be an excellent experience for all. He worked particularly well with the local guides, with whom he shared friendship and respect, and his ability in speaking Spanish was an excellent asset. The local guides were all excellent, and worked hard to give us the best birding experience possible. Our driver kept us safe on the road and got us where we needed to go. The lodges were all great, with comfortable accommodations and excellent food. I picked up several birds that I had missed on an earlier tour through the area, and got a good look at a Mountain Tapir, as a rare bonus mammal. All in all, it was an excellent trip, and I look forward to future trips with Rockjumper.

xTuomas Seimola
LV, Ecuador 2022

Overall the three consecutive tours were very very good. Tuomas was a superb, highly experienced/knowledgeable leader. It is amazing all the songs and calls he has mastered. He was most congenial, patient and always helpful to everyone. Highly recommend him as a leader. Local leaders and staff were all very good and most kind. Accommodations were comfortable and food was very tasty and well prepared.

Adam Walleyn
DL, Ecuador - Northern: Ultimate Amazon II 2025

I just completed the Ecuador - Northern II: Choco Cloud Forest; Eastern Andes (Paramo and Cloud Forest); and the Ultimate Amazon: Sumaco Foothills & Rio Napo for a total of 21 days. Adam Walleyn was our head guide and he did a fantasic job. He cleary knew all the birds in the region by both sight and sound and worked extremely hard to get everyone on the tours to see every bird. He was very clear in describing what the agenda was for the day, and what we we'd be doing relative to hiking, terrain, hiking difficulties, etc. He was very well organized and very friendly, a perfect guide. Adam also filled out ebird trip reports for every spot we visited over the 21 days and sent them to all tour members every night, so we could easily keep track of the species seen and immediately accept the reports into our individual ebird accounts. Not including birds only heard and not seen, I had 570 species for the trip. I'd also like to praise Rockjumper's local guide on this entire trip, Marcello. He was very friendly, energetic and man did he know the birds of Ecuador and how to find them. His hearing was absolutely acute and very tuned into the birds. Both guides carried scopes and instantly got birds into scope view for everyone. Very happy with the guides and the overall trip.

Dušan Brinkhuizen
WS - Ecuador 2024

Dusan was one of the best bird guides I have ever had. Incredibly knowledgable about birdlife and other flora and fauna, relentless in finding the rare birds, and always cheerful and looking out for our safety and logistics. He and our driver, Nestor, made it a magical week never to be forgotten!

Dušan Brinkhuizen
MW, Ecuador 2023

What a tour! We ended up with nearly 700 species seen and heard, and I ended up with almost twice as many lifers than I had anticipated. Dusan was excellent: Attentive to those having difficulties, enthusiastic, energetic, indefatigable, and a complete whiz at the birds. He was as excited about each new sighting as was the rest of the group, right through to the last day. We saw many very special birds, birds that I have missed over three previous trips to Ecuador as well as quite rare birds that, although specialties for this tour, require great effort and skill to unveil (think Buff-fronted Owl). Climate change affected the tour to a certain extent, but Dusan always had a clever plan or an alternative site to try for the bird again. The tour was a bit more strenuous than the itinerary led me to believe, but all at the participants willingly went the extra mile with Dusan every time. We were fortunate to have a pretty good group, a great driver, and good luck with the weather.

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