| identify, and experience the habitat of some of the most exotic birds on earth. If you have never been birdwatching in the Amazon rain forest it is reasonable to expect to add one hundred bird species to your life list, easily in just a few days. If you have already birded the Amazon in Peru or Brazil and think you have seen it all, think again. New species are being discovered on a regular basis. In the last 40 years, more new bird species have been discovered in Peru than in all the rest of the world combined. I recently learned where 5 newly named and registered species live and can take you there. You do not have to work hard or be an expert to appreciate the clear, ascending, flute-like whistle of the Giant Tinamou in the evening, or the "bob-white" call of the Common Tinamou during the day. |
| Dawn on the Amazon, 2005. All rights reserved. |
| Iquitos, Peru, is the port of departure for the voyage to tropical paradise for bird watching. Imagine yourself birding in the most avian diverse region in the world, the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, home to 560 species of neo-tropical birds. We can give you the opportunity to see, hear, |
| Wake up to the haunting, mournful call of the Common Poto just before dawn on a full moon night, or to the hysterical, laughing call of the Gray-necked Wood Rail at first light. If anyone sleeps through all of this they will appriciate the deep, liquid, honking of the Horned Screamers later in the morning. If you give us enough time, we will visit and study many different habitats including the Amazon River, black-water tributaries, large permanent river islands, small new river islands, sandbars, oxbow lakes, small lagoons, |
| seasonally flooded forests, swamps, upland terra firma jungle, canopy platforms, pastures, mineral licks, and white sand forest. Each habitat contains specialized species. For instance the white sand forests of Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve provide a habitat that contains 23 species that very few of you will ever have seen or heard. Please let me share my enthusiasm and memories of my personal experiences birding the Amazon Rainforest near Iquitos, Peru. Some of these may be once in a life time events, but you never know what to expect bird watching with Dawn on the Amazon. I will never forget the amazement I felt with 10 or 12 Black-collard Hawks repeatedly swooping down catching ornamental fish within 25 yards of our riverboat on the Nanay River near Iquitos. While birdwatching in Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve our riverboat was escorted by a migratory flock of hundreds of American Swallow-tailed Kites for several miles. In a remote rainforest village, I held a baby Harpy Eagle in my hands. On a night excursion my guide, Alberto, caught a Pauraque with his hands. After everyone had an opportunity to observe it up close, we released it. Late one afternoon cruising up the Ucayali River, thousands of Parakeets flew out of Pacaya Samiria National Reserve and crossed the river over our riverboat as we relaxed on the observation deck. Early one evening in Pacaya Samiria National Reserve one of my guests had a flirtatious conversation with a Tinamou. He called it right up to where our boat was tied. His wife was jealous. I had never seen a Rufescent Tiger-Heron until we built the larger Dawn on the Amazon III. I am sure we passed many Tiger-Herons up close. Their best defense is to blend in with the thick aquatic vegetation, and let boats go past them, even a few feet away. Looking down from the top observation deck is the best way to spot them We know that Jacana chicks hatch around April 22th to April 24th in this area, because we saw several tiny chicks scurrying along on top of the floating vegetation on the Yana Yacu River on April 28th. There were 3 or 4 to each clutch. The chicks followed the male, not the female. To observe Jacana courtship watch from the middle of March to late March. The female Jacana, mates with several different males, all competing for her attention. Early one morning we woke up to the maniacal laughing call of a group of Gray-necked Wood-Rails within a few meters of our riverboat. Nothing sounds more like the jungle than a chorus of Gray-necked Wood-Rails. You will never have a better sighting of a Capped Heron than the one I saw while bird watching in Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve. The bird caught a fish from a log sticking out into the Blanco River in the late afternoon. It flew up and toward us, toward the setting sun, with its blue face and bill pointed toward our group of bird watchers. Flying slowly past us, every creamy feather of its plumage was perfectly displayed. The graceful bird in the golden light is a treasured memory of a wonderful rainforest birding expedition. Blue-gray tanagers come to my balcony and kitchen to eat the ripe bananas nearly everyday. |
| Our boats have bird watching built into the design with three separate areas appropriate for birding depending on the weather conditions. The figurehead is an eagle with a large fish in its talons, carved from blood wood. Other wood carvings in purple heart wood are of two macaws, a kingfisher catching a fish, an egret |
| with a fish in its beak, two woodpeckers, a poto, and a couple of owls for good luck. You can customize your tour to best suit your energy level or goals. There are many options available, including our half price birding cruise using Dawn on the Amazon I, and the budget birding at our Jungle Cabins, near the border of Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve. The library of Dawn on the Amazon III has four of the best books about neo-tropical birds, as well as books on mammals, reptiles and amphibians, fish, natural rainforest medicines, bromeliads, orchids and rainforest ecology. Photography is one of my hobbies. Part of my and my guides' job is to take good photos of you during your birding expedition and to share those photos with you. We make night excursions. This is not a rice and bean and egg riverboat. Our food is gourmet and lots of it, with fresh squeezed tropical juices. We serve cold beer and cool wine. I am a member of the Ornithological Society of North America, the American Ornithologists' Union, the Rainforest Conservation Fund, and several other organizations dedicated to preserving the bird habitat of the neotropics. |
| BIRD WATCHING IQUITOS PERU |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| We just returned from a great bird watching expedition through Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve. We watched and photographed four Many-banded Aracari in a leafless tree. Then we spotted three toucanets up close, and then a toucan, all in less than an hour. |
| Why should you choose Dawn on the Amazon? Our bird watching tour is unique. No other tour company can approach birding like we do. You will use our safe, comfortable, floating lodge, Dawn on the Amazon III, as your mobile base of operations. It is better than a lodge, we can move to where the birds are. We bird watch leisurely. Unless you specifically say, "Bill, I want to go on a strenuous jungle hike," we won't. We take short easy hikes to varied habitat, but never long strenuous hikes. I have learned my lesson. Take half a dozen noisy gringos on a jungle hike and most of the birds and animals will take cover or leave the area. You will see lots more birds my way. We cruise along close to the shore going slow and easy until we spot a ripe fruit tree, a swarm of insects, or some other food source, and we tie the boat near that food source, in the shade if possible, and we get comfortable and wait for the birds to come to us. If we see some interesting species or flocks of species we maneuver the boat as close as possible for good viewing. The best bird watching is from first light until mid-morning and again from mid-afternoon until last light. You will not be waiting at a hotel room for the car, or wishing you were there, or traveling, hoping to get back to safety before dark. You will be birding during the most productive time periods, near or on your mobile base of operations, Dawn on the Amazon III. |
| Birdwatching Iquitos Peru If you have joined the many birding enthusiasts who have taken a bird watching vacation, or bird watching tour to Costa Rica, Panama, Vancouver Island, Canada, Malaysia, or Thailand, then your next birdwatching holiday should be Iquitos Peru. My guides and I love birdwatching, and we make a good team. You do not have to be an expert to enjoy bird watching Iquitos Peru, with Dawn on the Amazon. Please visit my on-line photo gallery of over 70 photos of The Birds and Bees of the Amazon Rainforest, I took while birding from the Dawn on the Amazon riverboats. I hope you enjoy the photos and feel inspired to join us for your own Amazon adventure, birdwatching Iquitos Peru. |