Description

Main Info

Mindo is renowned as the best birdwatching site in South America. It is home to more than 400 bird species. Thanks to the Andes and the equatorial line our small but diverse country has almost all types of ecosystems, in remote valleys at higher elevations, tropical cloud forests are found. These are so named because they trap clouds which drench the forest in a fine mist, allowing some particularly delicate forms of plant life to thrive. The dense vegetation of this type of forest gives it a mysterious and delicate fairy-tale appearance (Rachowiecki, 1997).

ATTRACTIONS

Most common bird species in Bellavista / 14 most common hummingbird species

Tawny-bellied Hermit	Collared Inca
Green Violetear	Buff-tailed Coronet
Sparkling Violetear	Gorgeted Sunangel
Andean Emerald	Purple-bibbed Whitetip
Speckled Hummingbird	Booted Racket-tail
Fawn-breasted Brilliant	Violet-tailed Sylph
Brown Inca	Purple-throated Woodstar

The following birds are arguably the 57 most likely encountered birds at Bellavista 

Black Vulture	Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant
Turkey Vulture	Golden-crowned Flycatcher
Plain-breasted Hawk	Blue and White Swallow
Roadside Hawk	Plain-tailed Wren
Sickle-winged Guan	Grey-breasted Wood-Wren
Band-tailed Pigeon	Great Thrush
Plumbeous Pigeon	Glossy-black Thrush
Red-billed Parrot	Turquoise Jay
Squirrel Cuckoo	Blackburnian Warbler
Common Potoo	Spectacled Whitestart
Band-winged Nightjar	Slate-throated Whitestart
White-collared Swift	Russet-crowned Warbler
Masked Trogon	Grass-green Tanager
Toucan Barbet	Dusky Bush-Tanager
Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan	Rufous-chested Tanager
Crimson-mantled Woodpecker	Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager
Powerful Woodpecker	Thick-billed Euphonia
Strong-billed Woodcreeper	Orange-bellied Euphonia
Montane Woodcreeper	Golden Tanager
Azara’s Spinetail	Flame-faced Tanager
Red-faced Spinetail	Beryl-spangled Tanager
Streaked Tuftedcheek	Blue-and-black Tanager
Chestnut-crowned Antpitta	Rufous-collared Sparrow
Spillmann’s Tapaculo	Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
Green and black Fruiteater	White-winged Brush-Finch
Streak-necked Flycatcher	White-sided Flowerpiercer
White-tailed Tyrannulet	Masked Flowerpiercer
Cinnamon Flycatcher	Yellow Grosbeak
Smoke-coloured Pewee

13 target birds often seen around Bellavista 

Rufescent Screech-Owl	White-faced Nunbird
Cloud Forest Pygmy-Owl	Giant Antpitta
Swallow-tailed Nightjar	Ocellated Tapaculo
Green-fronted Lancebill	Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Crested Quetzal	Plushcap
Golden-headed Quetzal	Tanager Finch
Beautiful Jay

INCLUDE

• Private bilingual guide English/Spanish (we also offer German and French speaking guides)
• Private comfortable Transportation
• All entrance fees: Mitad del Mundo monument complex, Basilica, Compañía and Panecillo
• Visit to Bellavista private reserve or similar & butterfly farm