Birds and Birdwatching at Tinalandia
The grounds of the Tinalandia Ecolodge offer some of the best birding opportunities in Ecuador. Driving from Quito, it is possible to reach the hotel in a little over 2 hours. While a single night´s stay would enable you to see many of the over 350 species found in the reserve (about half as many species as exist on the entire North American continent), a 3 or 4 day stay allows ample time to explore all of the reserve and hike across the rainforest to the edge of the "moss forest" where you can see even more varieties of birds. Those who make the hike into this habitat may very well encounter the fabled Long-wattled Umbrella bird, the exotic Golden-winged manakin, and the Glistening-green Tanager, among others.
One visiting bird enthusiast´s comments on Tinalandia:
"We found tanagers, flycatchers and treerunners to be most common birds; the tanagers, in scarlet, blue, yellow, black and gray varieties among the most colorful. But our list includes such varied species as eared dove, black and white swallow, white-capped dipper, carunculated caracara, rufous-breasted chat-tyrant, American kestrel, white-collared swift, black flower-piercer, puna hawk, Andean gull, swallow-tailed kite, great thrush, burrowing owl, turkey vulture, great egret, Andean lapwing and the list could go on and on. Even those of us who were not as knowledgeable about birds were soon wielding binoculars with the best of them. The bird fanatics in the group figured they must be close to heaven. There is something about the feathered fellow-inhabitants of our planet that captures the imaginations and the fancies of us all. And for those of us who saw variety, heard the songs and experienced the natural habitats, birds will never quite be the same again."
— Carma Wadley
Our Bird List is a record of bird species sighted in and around Tinalandia. The Birding Report by Thomas H. Davis & Clive Green gives good background information about birding at Tinalandia, and the Bird Gallery has a selection of colorful photographs taken at Tinalandia by Martin Reid and Kevin Watson.
Hacienda Tinalandia:
tele/fax: (593-2) 2449-028
cells: 099467741 / 099494727
Urbanizacion El Bosque 2da. Etapa Av. del Parque
Calle 3era. Lote 98 #43-78
Quito, Ecuador