Birds of the Antisana Ecological Reserve

In our Holbrook Travel tour of Ecuador we visited the Artisana Natural Reserve which took us to 11,500'. This privately owned Reserve protects 297,000 acres spanning from the Andes to the Amazon lowlands. You pass through varied ecological zones ranging from páramo to lowland rainforest. More than 70 bird species are found here, including the Andean Condor, Giant Hummingbird, Carunculated Caracara, Black-faced Ibis, Speckled Teal, Andean Duck, Silvery Grebe, Slatecolored Coot, Andean Gull, Andean Lapwing, and Aplomado Falcon. We saw almost all within an 8 hour secession. Constantly in the background of the main Reserve is the snow-capped Antisana Volcano, Ecuador's fourth highest peak with an altitude of 18,900 feet and truly an impressive site.