Over dinner the previous night we had learned a little more about Maycu and the best way to bird it. Although most of the birding is done along the road, there are also a couple of trails that lead up to the Tepui mountains above the valley. We decided that we would explore these trails and see what birds we might be able to find in the forest itself, as opposed to just birding along the road.
This worked out very well, and we spent the morning walking through the forest. Although we spent a good four hours exploring the trails, at least two of these were spent on just two birds. The first was a long wanted species for me, the Musician Wren. Less to see the bird, and more to hear its fantastic song. Fortunately we got to do both not far along the trail, although seeing it was a little more effort than we had anticipated. It was excellent to have our ears filled by the incredible whilstles and clicks that this bird produces.
The second bird was the Thrush-like Antpitta, a bonus antpitta species for our itinerary since I did not think we had a realistic chance of finding one. However, about 400 metres along the trail we heard one singing distantly down the valley. With only a little hesitation we decided to descend the bank and try to locate the bird. This was no mean feat, and we had little idea if it would be worthwhile, but after some considerable effort, we managed to get excellent views of the bird. Remarkably, these views were later put to shame on our way back to the road, when another Thrush-like Antpitta was not only calling next to the path, but also dancing; bobbing side to side and fanning its wings. This was incredible behaviour to witness, especially on such an elusive species.
Away from these two species we also had other good birds. Peruvian Warbling Antbird we had nice and early on our walk, and a lively mixed species flock produced my first Paradise Tanagers, although this bird would be common from then on. There was also good views of Ivory-billed Aracari low in the canopy. Generally though, we struggled again to find good numbers of species, despite a few really good birds.
That was absolutely not the case in the afternoon, when we encountered a seemingly never-ending mixed species flock. Besides the common tanager species, there were also good numbers of Oropendulas and Caciques. Good species we encountered in this flock included White-throated Woodpecker, Lafresnaye’s Piculet, Gilded Barbet and Violaceous Jay. We also coaxed out a couple of antbirds from the roadside vegetation; Plain-winged Antshrike and Spot-winged Antbird. In just a couple of hours we had been completely overwhelmed by the never ending stream of birds.
After dark we headed back into the forest to try for some night species. We started extremely well with a Common Potoo circling the car, but our main target, the Band-bellied Owl eluded us. We quickly found a singing bird but it would not budge and we could not get into a position to locate. Fortunately a little further up we found a pair of Band-bellied Owls that did eventually show, and we were even able to see the two birds sat together.
Reserva Maycu: Speckled Chachalaca, Plumbeous Pigeon, Squirrel Cuckoo, Common Potoo, Green Hermit, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Band-bellied Owl, Green-backed Trogon, Gilded Barbet, Ivory-billed Aracari, Channel-billed Toucan, Lafresnaye's Piculet, Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, White-throated Woodpecker, Blue-headed Parrot, White-eyed Parakeet, Plain-winged Antshrike, Peruvian Warbling Antbird, Spot-winged Antbird, Thrush-like Antpitta, Duida Woodcreeper, Streaked Xenops, Rufous-tailed Foliage-gleaner, Ecuadorian Tyrannulet, Ornate Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Tropical Kingbird, Violaceous Jay, Blue-and-white Swallow, White-thighed Swallow, White-banded Swallow, Southern Nightingale-Wren, House Wren, White-breasted Wood Wren, Musician Wren, Orange-bellied Euphonia, Yellow-throated Bush Tanager, Russet-backed Oropendola, Crested Oropendola, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Canada Warbler, Orange-throated Tanager, Blue-grey Tanager, Yellow-bellied Tanager, Blue-necked Tanager, Paradise Tanager, Opal-rumped Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, Green-and-gold Tanager, Purple Honeycreeper, Green Honeycreeper, Yellow-backed Tanager, Bananaquit,
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