Where do I start? There are too many trips to choose from!

Which trip is best for you to choose? We have the largest amount of different trips for birders to Peru. It is hard to choose. The following short summery will help you.

• BIG DAY. Break 300 in 24 hours - no promise but quite possible at Amigos Research Center.
• Long list. High biodiversity: GRAND CENTRAL PERU, Manu road, North Peru with its extensions, North Peru and Southen Ecuador
• For the beginner. Slow pace, birds easy to find, alternatives for the non-birding spouse. Southern Circuit.
• Endemics. Central Peru, Carpish, North Peru 2, North Peru 4, Tumbes. Not necessarily the longest lists but many restricted range species.
• New species to science and undescribed species. Iquitos, Central Peru (Satipo road).
• Pelagic birds. Pelagics and Southern Circuit.
• Wildlife. Manu Jaguar Safari,Amigos research Station
• Archeology and birding. MST archeology and birding, Southern Circuit.
• Hummingbirds. Hummingbird programs on MST (North and Machu Picchu and Manu)
• Comfort. Marvelous Spatuletail Tours: Southern Circuit, MST archeology and birding, Amigos Research Station, Tambopata, Short North 9 day and Machu Picchu and Manu Hummingbird trip.
• Limited time. Short North 9 day, North Peru 2, Carpish, Concise Manu road Light, Amigos research Station in SE Peru.
• North Peru. NEW PROGRAMS. With the new lodge at Abra Patricia and Kolibri Expeditions''''s committment to support local communities to become part of the itineraries when their vicinity harbour very rare birds, our North Peru programs called for re-writing. Most birders should realize that there are simply too many birds in North Peru to see them all. Therefore we have produced a circuit that starts in Tumbes and ends in Lima. If you do the whole circuit it takes 43 days. Nobody has all this time, but since this shall be our core itinerary for years to come, you may always come back and do another stretch at a later date.
  There are basically 2 core trips. One is Piura to Tarapoto, with a 4 day Tumbes section offered as a pre-trip that includes a pelagic, Tumbes forest and mangroves, featuring White-winged Guan, Abra Patricia Lodge and Marvellous Spatuletail and the other core trip is Tarapoto to Cajamarca, working more trails looking for endemic primates such as YellowYellow-tailed Woolly Monkey and Alto Mayo Titi Monkey, as well as Antpitttas and Long-whiskered Owlet and featuring Abra Patricia Lodge, Marvelous Spatuletail, Leimebamba, Gray-winged Inca-Finch and Gray-bellied Comet with the possibility to add Purple-backed Sunbeam and Russet-bellied Spintetail (the last bit offered as an extension). The first core trip is offered in two versions, a 7 day trip (no camping) or a 15 day trip with camping and supporting local awaruna indean communities when searching for Orange-throated Tanager. The second core trip gives the option to make a 6 day hike for Yellow-browed Toucanet, Pale-billed Antpitta and Carpish endemics.
  
  There is also the Comfort MST style, short North Peru program for 9 days that starts in Chiclayo and ends in Tarapoto, featuring Chaparri and Abra Patricia Lodge. 
  Also one may combine Northern Peru and Southern Ecuador to get specialities on both sides of the boarder. 
• Inexpensive. Gran Central Peru and Cerros de Sira - both for only 99 US/day when group size is six or more.
• Expedition birding points. Iquitos,, Abra Malaga and Machu Picchu, Scarlet-banded Barbet (strenuous), White-masked Antbird, Cerros de Sira.
• Photography. Southern Circuit, Machu Picchu and Manu (Hummingbirds), Amigos Research Station.
• First time in South America. Peru is overwhelming. You cannot do it all on one trip. Chose a trip that gives you the flavour of Peru triggering the desire to come back. Don''''t kill yourself with a Megalist the first time in South America. Southern Circuit, Abra Malaga and Machu Picchu, Lima days (see below), Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra. Carpish is also good but very endemic concentrated. Tambopata is probably the best lowland alternative, but the lowlands are really too species rich and it is difficult to see the birds well. It would not be my first choice for someone that never spent any time in South America and is not familiar with the families.
• Rainy Season. January-April. This is the time of year when it is most difficult to visit i.e. Manu road (but it is not impossible) due to East slope rains. These rains are usually most severe in the south. In the North during the same period there is also considerable amount of rain on the west slope, but rarely too much to spoil your birding –after all they are xerophytic areas. During Niño years there is more rain in the north and central Peru and probably less so in the SE. Now for the recommendations. During normal conditions we recommend North Peru, Tumbes (January and beginning of February), Iquitos, Southern Circuit (you can do this any time), and surprisingly also Tambopata and especially Amigos research station. Puerto Maldonado  is served by jet-planes and there are many good lodges nearby, but add a few days to compensate for possible rain.
• Time to kill in Lima. Quite a few people come on very short trips to Lima for business or passing through on a more extensive trip and may have a spare day.
  Along the coast there are Pucusana and Puerto Viejo to the south and Lomas de Lachay and Paraiso to the north. If you have more time in Lima any of the above can be made more extensively. More time allows you to trips into the Andes. A day trip to Santa Eulalia Canyon offers many pacific slope endemics including Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch and Great Inca-Finch, as well as good possibilities to see condors, but you do need to make a very early start from Lima. Ticlio and Marcapomacocha road at extreme altitude above 4000m gives an almost 100% hit-rate for Diademed Sandpiper Plover and White-bellied Cinclodes. Santa Eulalia and Marcapomacocha road can be combined in a two or three day trip to also allow time to look for White-cheeked Cotinga
• Cruises. If you are on a cruise, by the time you get off the boat, the most important part of the morning may have been lost. I would recommend a program consisting of Pantanos de Villa and Pucusana in combination. Some goodies that may be seen are Peruvian Thickknee, Humboldt Penguin and Peruvian Seaside Cinclodes.
  If you are very keen on endemics one could make a go for Cactus Canastero at Lomas de Lachay 100km north of Lima - but it can sometimes be difficult to find the Canastero it if its very hot. July-September, during the mist season, it should be easier however. Also in this area are Grayish, Thick-billed and Coastal Miner. Most of these species you will not get in Arica, Chile if you plan also to go birdwatching there later on your cruise.
  Many cruise ships also dock in Salaverry near Trujillo in the North. We have sites for Peruvian Plantcutter that may be reachable in the time you have available.
  We can also arrange guides and transport in Arica and Valparaiso (see Batuco-Lampa for high diversity and pre-cordillera for endemics in Chile and in Guayaquil in Ecuador if you want to go birding here.

	KOLIBRI EXPEDITIONS TRIPS

	Abra Malaga - altitude preperation for the Inca Trail. 3 days. If you are going to do the Inca Trail, you do not want to spoil your fun by taking our trip that combines Abra Malaga and Machu Picchu, but on the other hand you don't just want to wait around in Cusco untill you get acustomed with the altitude. The below
	Abra Malaga & Machu Picchu 5 days recommended, but shorter variants are possible. Excellent birding in the magic environment of the Incas.
	Archeology and birding: Nazca lines and Paracas 2 days A short excellent trip over 2½ days for anyone wanting to experience the Nazca lines combining culture and nature. It can easily be added to a post Cusco trip with a flights that arrive in Lima before 2 pm.
	Carpish - Biodiversity Workshop See birds, butterflies and orchids and support local community members to learn to become local natural history guides.
	Carpish and Junin Lake 9 or 10 days 9-10 days. Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager and all the other Carpish endemics, Paty trail, the oilbird cave in Tingo Maria and Junin Grebe at wonderful Lake Junin. A great (and very affordable) trip
	Condor watching trips to Santa Eulalia Canyon - only 3 hours from Lima Daily condor watching trips. This is a short, inexpensive and time efficient alternative for those that had considered to go to Colca Canyon to see condors.
	Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra 6 days leaving on day 1 in the evening (1 hour drive from the airport). Russet-bellied Spinetail, Plain-tailed Warbling-Finch and Rufous-eared Brush-Finch.
	GRAND CENTRAL PERU ON 120 US$/DAY - MORE THAN 700 SPECIES 750 species in 27 days (including pelagic and Lomas de Lachay). This itinerary will give you More Birds! than Manu. But is dead cheap. Cost is only 120 dollars per day.
	GRAND MANU and THE MANU SPLIT - Manu road and Manu Biosphere reserve. 12 or 22 days Manu road and Manu lowlands have received well worth attention in the past years. Over 1000 species of bird. This is our most complete itinerary.
	Hummingbirds - Satipo road This is a custom made tour top maximise number of hummingbirds on the tour. Having said this it will also give excellent opportunities to see many other birds along the Satipo road and the Yanachaga Chemillen National Park. The last days are spent at Pamp
	Hummingbirds: Manu and Machu Picchu Budget Best trip for the person who wants to see as many of SE Peru's Hummingbirds as possible and inlcude a visit to Machu Picchu. We have chosen basic but adequate lodging. At Cock-of-the Rock Lodge we sleep in rooms wall to wall next to the diningroom. It is possible to upgrade to private cabins. 30US per person. Also possible to upgrade the hotel in Aguas Calientes.
	Iquitos Specialties White-sand forest, river islands, Canopy Walkway and Wattled Curassow 9 days. This trip concentrates on the birds that are difficult to see elsewhere in the Amazon basin. It is possible to add days for other lodges. One can easily spend up to 3 weeks in the Iquitos area
	La Montañita 10 days special. Support the conservation project at this locality and see some of the best birds of Peru. Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager and Yellow-browed Toucanet.
	Lima days: Daytrip to Santa Eulalia valley A shorter trip concentrating on the endemics of the west slope such as Rufous-breasted Warbling-Finch and Great Inca-Finch.
	Lima days: Daytrip to Ticlio and Marcopomacocha area Diademed Sandpiper-Plover and White-bellied Cinclodes
	Lima days: El Olivar Park and Pantanos de Villa Good introduction to the birds of LIma
	Lima days: Junin Grebe twitch Main target: Junin Grebe and birds often missed in the Santa Eulalia Canyon.
	LIMA DAYS: La Punta and Pozo Arenillas Good introduction to the birds in Lima. The trip can be run almost anytime. A short trip to do very close to the airport. Perfect  for a short trip to kill time. Especially good for North American waders, gulls and terns - September-April is the best time migrating birds, but it is always something to see.
	Lima days: Lomas de Lachay and Paraiso Lagoon. Endemic or near-endemic birds: Cactus Canastero, Thick-billed, Coastal and Grayish Miner and Peruvian Tern. Shorebirds.
	Lima days: Pucusana, Pantanos de Puerto Viejo and Cañete valley One of our Lima favorites.
	Lima days: Santa Eulalia valley and Marcopomacocha This trip can be run almost anytime.
	Lima days: Tinajas and Pucusana Combine the two programs
	Lima days: Tinajas valley close to Lima Endemics Cactus Canastero and Thick-billed and Grayish Miners
	Lima Days: Ventanilla Lagoons - a few hours to kill near airport Great wetland area just north of the airport. Combine with La Punta.
	Lowland SE Peru specialties at Los Amigos Research Center Incredible diversity with good bamboo, varzea and terra firme. Thus you can get all Manu and Tambopata specialists at a very decent price. Departures from Lima on Thursdays. Perfect for someone who only wants a short stay, but it is also a fantastic place to spend a longer session of 14 days.
	Lowland SE Peru specialties at Rio Las Piedras If you don't have the money to do Manu or Tambopata, this is a good option for you. In fact for birders wanting to get all the lowland-specialites will do better at Piedras, because here you can also find Black-faced Cotinga, Long-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, the newly described Rufous Twistwing. Obviously all the other bamboo specialists can be found here as well as good macaw-lick as good as the one in Manu. Giant Otters and Tapirs are also frequently seen.
	Machu Picchu and Manu for less able walkers This is a complete rain forest trip for someone that has a hard time walking long stretches or needs some aid to walk like crutches or a stroller. It is not suited for wheelchairs however. We bring stools so you can sit down frequently if you need to.
	Manu community owned lodges 10 or 15 days - BUDGET!! We are helping the local communities of Amarakaeri community reserve to put value into some recently built lodges in their communities. They have been funded by PNUD (UN fund for development) and FONDAM (Fondo de Americas of USAID). In spite of the name, this is just next to Manu NP and in the same drainage, so it could be marketed as Manu. Unfortunately, Wanamei (the Amarakaeri communities tour company) have a hard time selling their product. Last year they only had 20 clients all together! Bird watching could be the market niche. The prices in the initial phase will be considerably lower than the current prices in the area and it would help the locals to both acquire income and experience. The idea is to put turn these lodges into prime birdwatching lodges in a specific circuit with our expertise. Kolibri Expeditions and Wanamei is working in making a partnership that is beneficial for both companies.
	Manu Light - Manu road and lowlands in 13 days. So what if you don't have 22 days available to do Manu and you still want to get some of the Manu road and some of lowlands. Well here it is. Manu Light. We have deliberately tried to keep costs down by using some resources in Pilcopata and Boca Manu.
	Manu mammals and birds - the Jaguar Safari. A new trip that takes you into Manu proper where you have your best chances of spotting mammals.
	Manu road 18 days (11 or 14 days also available) 18 days. Once a month April-December. +500 species.
	North Peru 1: Tumbes and pelagic This short pre-tour gives you many species that are usually not found on regular North Peru trips. The forest at Cerro Amotape National Park aka as Tumbes forest is spectacular and in very good shape. The mangroves adds several other species. Our new Tumbes Pelagic is a substitute for many marine birds only found on Galapagos. Don't miss the opportunity to add these days to your North Peru trip.
	North Peru 2: Piura-Tarapoto with Abra Patricia Lodge. This is our new core North Peru program, which features an option of visiting Orange-throated Tanager and White-masked Antbird every other month. We also run it on request. Connect with pre-tour to Tumbes with pelagic (4 days) and extensions in Tarapoto (2 days) and the megadiversity trip back to Cajamarca (9 or 15 days) that explore more trails and makes it possible to look for rare endemic primates and birds, as well as a hike to see Yellow-browed Toucanet.
	North Peru 3: Tarapoto days extension (2 days) After a long trip it is nice to be able to have two easier days to catch up to do some laundry and have time to visit the internet. These two days are placed after our Tumbes-Tarapoto program and prior to the Tarapoto-Trujillo program.
	North Peru 4: MEGADIVERSITY TRIP. Tarapoto-Cajamarca 9 or 15 days with trekking Birds, Orchids, Butterflies, Endemic Primates and Yellow-browed Toucanet and Pale-billed Antpitta for those that do the trek from Leimebamba
	North Peru 5: Purple-backed Sunbeam and Russet-bellied Spinetail extension. Short, quite rough trip with lots of driving, to get the very rare Purple-backed Sunbeam and Russet-bellied Spinetail.
	North Peru 6. Peruvian Martin and Cordillera Blanca Extension Short extension overland to Lima
	NORTH PERU–SOUTHERN ECUADOR with Jocotoco Antpitta and Tumbesia endemics 22 days Combine the Chinguela ridge with the key species in SOuthern Ecuador and end in Tumbes for the ultimate Tumbesian clean-up trip. Jocotoco Antpitta will be a main target duiring this trip.
	Oxapampa, Satipo road and Machu Picchu A good and comfortable introduction to Peru with Machu Picchu.
	Pampas del Heath - Kolibri Expeditions 10 year anniversary Pampas del Heath presents practically the only savanna habitat in Peru and presents 14 species found nowhere else in Peru. We shall be camping 3 nights at Puerto Juliaca where the best Peruvian Pampas is. White-naped Xenopsaris was recorded as a new species for Peru in 2004
	Paracas and Ayacucho 2-4 days depending on program chosen
	Pelagic There are monthly departures. This is a Kolibri Expeditions special. The first regular departures of Pelagics in Peru is organized by us in 2001 we found three new species for Peru!!.
	Puno department with Sandia and Abra Maruncunca Very exciting area with many species that arew very difficult even in Bolivia. Green-capped Tanager. Some hiking is needed if one does not want to spend too many hours in the vehicle.
	Puno-Arica (Chile)-Arequipa. Pelagics in the South If you like Pelagics and the Andes this trip is for you. Usually this trip would be run in connection with Puno special, but you may also sign-up only for t
	Salaverry Cruise-ship special - Peruvian Plantcutter and Rufous Flycatcher This day trip will make the most of birding wise of your stop at the port of Salaverry south of Trujillo. The key species to look for that you will not find in Guayaquil or Lima are Peruvian Plantcutter, Rufous Flycatcher, and an undescribed (s)sp of Neclaced Spinetail (without neclace!). Different cruiships will have different length of stay, so time will limit exactly what will be done this day.
	Satipo Road and Carpish (18 days) 18 days. Endemic dense and extremely birdy. more than 500 species when combined with Lima excursions.
	Satipo road special The extended version of the Satipo road trip run in July 2008
	Short North Peru getaway (9 days) featuring White-winged Guan and Marvelous Spatuletail The perfect trip for those with little time. The trip is very intense, due to long distances and uncomfortable flying times. You only have to take a week off from work. Always Saturday-Sunday. Good hotels and no camping.
	South East Peru ENDEMICS. Manu and Machu Picchu 12 days We recommend to do SE Peru in 22 days for Manu and 4 days for Abra Malaga and Machu Picchu if SE Peru is to be done properly. However, if you want to concentrate on the species you cannot see elsewhere you may strip down the trip to only 12 days, and keep a very high pace. The reason why this is possible is that there are relatively few endemics and specialities in the lowlands apart from the bamboo birds. Since many of the bamboo birds can be gotten near Pilcopata relatively close to the road, it is possible to skip lowland Manu completely and still get most of the special birds. The other SE Peru species are found in high Andean forests (Abra Malaga), in the cloud forest (Machu Picchu) and in the foothills (on Manu road).
	The Highlights of Manu - One Week get-away It is becoming clear to us that many clients want week long trips that only requieres taking five days off from work (in this case six days), and in spite that we recommend to do the complete Manu in 22 days, there is a demand for a complete Manu trip over two weekends and the days between. Since we always try to cater for all needs...we here proudly present the ultra consice "The highlights of Manu".
	Tumbes 7 days. Best combined with North Peru as a pre-trip. Restricted range species.

Looking for trips with very high levels of comfort: Check our Marvelous Spatuletail Tours -trips instead.

We´re introducing a new concept. Or rather developing one of the principle driving forces of Kolibri Expeditions. In 1998 were we the first to see Orange-throated Tanager and Great Spinetail for at least 15 years and later that same year we found several new localities for Peruvian Plantcutter. In 1999 we discovered the Montañita site. In 2000 we rediscovered Kalinowski´s Tinamou after 100 years. Montañita held its promise and produced the Golden-backed Mountain Tanager and most of the other Carpish endemics. Millpo Tapaculo was relocated at a new site. In 2001 we found a new taxon of Thrythorus wren near Otuto in Junin, and we have the first observations of eye-ringed Thistletail in over 15 years. Furthermore in the Apurimac Valley we recorded the voice of a new Otus owl and a the local form of Peruvian Pygmy-Owl, which is vocally distinct from the coastal form and consequently may be split in the near future. In 2002 we learnt that Rufous Antpitta in Canchaque Piura sounds very different from Grallaria rufula rufula which has been collected in this area. It seems that when considering the voice a new taxon is invloved. It sounds like the Rufous Antpitta from Cajamarca (cajabambae), but looks more than the Rufous Antpitta from Ecuador (rufula). We also found Little Woodstar near Pedro Ruiz - a species that had no confirmed recent records in Peru.

During 2007 we will offer a couple of extremes. There may be surprises out there.

	Scarlet-banded Barbet probably the toughest trip on program. You need to be extremely fit to undertake this expeditions. Conditions are hard, but you may be rewarded with one of the best birds in South America.
	Sira Tanager and Horned Curassow This trip is best run May to December. Initially we offer the trip at a special price of 99 dollars per day (with group size of 6 - which is maximum number for the first trips).

Also see the discussion group for Expedition Birding.

Trip reports Check out past trips to Peru with Kolibri Expeditions on our trip report page.

Safe birding in Peru Are you worried about the safety in Peru? Terrorism and Guerilla? Check out or updated page with recommendations to people who are not on a Kolibri Expedition trip. Most of the country is OK to travel in...some areas require care and common sense. Kolibri Expeditions have those qualities.

The Condor fiesta Read about the filming of the condor and the bull fiesta featured in the tv-series Giants.

Birds of Peru mentions 1817 species, but there are several candidates for species level which yet are to be described or "officially" split. Be sure you’ll get your armchair ticks. Look at the 28 potential additions.



Kolibri Expeditions
www.kolibriexpeditions.com
E-mail to: kolibriexp@gmail.com for more information