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Birdwatching in Peru's Jungle
Guacamayo
(Photo Aníbal Solimano/PromPerú)
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Manu National Park
Located in the tropical rainforest of the departments
of Cusco and Madre de Dios, the Manu
National Park is Peru's greatest natural reserve,
both for the number of species that it harbours and
for the diversity of eco-systems to be found there.
The reserve covers the entire watershed of the Manu
River, running across an extraordinary range of altitudes,
from 4,300 m.a.s.l. in the high Andean plain down to
200 meters in the Amazon Basin. The area is home to
dozens of tribes -Amahuaca, Huachipaire, Machiguenga,
Piro, Yora and Yaminahua- as well as others that have
yet to make contact with the outside world. The park
is also a haven for more than 20,000 plant varieties,
1,200 butterfly species, 1,000 bird species, 200 species
of mammals and an unknown quantity of reptiles, amphibians
and insects.
The 1,000 different species of birds that, according
to specialists, can be found in the park's ecosystems,
represent over one tenth of the 9000 bird species worldwide,
which makes Manu the richest birding area in the world.
Some of Manu bird specialties include Bearded Mountaineer
Hummingbird, Cock-of-the-Rock, Amazonian Umbrellabird,
Blueheaded Macaws, Black-faced Cotinga and Rufous-fronted
Ant-thrush
Tambopata
The Tambopata
National Reserve is a good alternative for the Manu,
as a visit to the latter is expensive and limited (only
authorized operators can take visitors into the reserved
zone). In Tambopata there are many jungle lodges offering
excellent lowland rainforest birding, such as Explorer's
Inn, renowned for holding the world record for the most
species registered in any one day in one specific area:
more than 650! The lodge is just a three-hour boat ride
upstream from Tambopata -accessible from Puerto Maldonado.
Source: PromPerú (Comission for the Promotion
of Peru) et al.
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