Tapichalaca - Private Birding Tours | Birding Ecuador

Tapichalaca Reserve

This is the historical place where the new (Jocotoco Antpitta - Gralaria ridgelyi) was discovered on the 20th of November in 1997 by Robert Ridgely during a trip to record vocalizations of Ecuadorian birds. The farmers near Quebrada Honda knew that something lurked in their forest and called it Jocotoco. The hoot-sound also had a bark-like similitude but no one had ever seen it until Robert S. Ridgelyi recorded it and called it back. To his surprise this amazing bird came out of the thick cloud forest to answer and reveal itself as a new species to the master of South American species. The enthusiasm for this finding was so large that it set in motion many efforts for conservation. The fruit of this enthusiasm ripened with the creation of the Jocotoco foundation in 1998. The sole purpose of this foundation is protecting the habitat of threaten birds in the Andes of Ecuador.

Tapichalaca welcomes you with a beautiful lodge called Casa Simpson in honor of the contributions made by Dr. Nigel Simpson (ornithologist) to the conservation project in Quebrada Honda. There are many well maintained and marked trails around the private reserve of 5000 hectares from an altitude of 1800 to 3100 meters. The reserve is adjacent to the Podocarpus National Park adding to the biodiversity of this place. Recently a new tree frog, Hyla tapichalaca, was also discovered inside the reserve.

This reserve is an is a VERY Important Bird Area since it gave a new bird to our Biodiversity (Birdlife IBA Factsheet EC088 - Reserva Tapichalaca).

For more information visit : http://fjocotoco.org/tapichala.htm

Tapichalaca Bird List: Bird List Tapichalaca.xls

BIRDS OF Tapichalaca RESERVE

Entrance to Casa Simpson

Jocotoco Antpitta Grallaria ridgelyi	Jocotoco Antpitta Grallaria ridgelyi	Golden-plumed Parakeet Leptosittaca branickii	Golden-plumed Parakeet Leptosittaca branickii

White-throated Quail-Dove Geotrygon frenata	Black-capped Hemispingus Hemispingus atropileus	Citrine Warbler Basileuterus luteoviridis	Black-throated Tody-Tyrant Hemitriccus granadensis


Amethyst-throated Sunangel Heliangelus amethysticollis	White-bellied Woodstar	Collared Inca	Chestnut-breasted Coronet

Gray-hooded Bush-tanager Cnemoscopus rubrirostris	Lacrimose Mountain Tanager Anisognathus lacrymosus	Hooded Mountain Tanager	Streaked Tuftedcheek

Pearled Treerunner Margaronis stellatus	Mountain Wren Troglodytes solstitialis	Plain-tailed Wren Thryothorus nigricapillus	Rufous Wren Cinnycerthia unirufa

Slaty Finch Haplospiza rustica	Varegated Bristle-Tyrant Pogonotriccus poecilotis	White-banded Tytanulet Mecocerculus stictopterus	Russet-crowned Warbler Basiluterus coronatus