Birding in Machupicchu

By Doris Valencia Puclla

(02/19/2011) Machupicchu one of the wonders of the world, a must place to see if you come to Peru and certainly a great spot to bird.

Several especies of the avian family are foud in this beautiful cloud forest laden with hundreds of bromeliads and orchids.

The best way to enjoy both the site and the birds is staying there for the night so you get to see this famous site for most of the first day and dedicate the next early morning to bird the area.

An endemic bird a must to see is the gorgeous Inca Wren, this beautiful bird was not formely described until 1983, considering that hundreds of people visit the site every year, this atractive little bird likes to hang around short vegetation that includes chusquea bamboo. Others include hot hummers like Booted rackettail, the endemic Green and White hummingbird, Chesnut-breasted Coronet, Long-tailed Sylph, Green Hermit and much more, without counting the several species if the colorful tangara tanagers. Taking an early morning walk along the road that takes you to the site of Machupicchu, which runs along the Urubamba River you can certainly spot Highland Motmot, White-capped Diper, Torrent Ducks, maybe even a shy Fasciated Tiger-Heon. In a trip last october as we were birding along this stretch of the road, we spoted a female Spectacled Bear, this magnificent creature was feeding on some juicy bromeliads of a large tree that was at least about 80 feet above the ground, we looked at it for like half an hour, several people in my group took excellent pictures.

The train ride to Machupicchu is certainly one of a kind, amazing to start in a broad part of the Urubamba Valley and end up in the deep Urubamba Canyon, no wonder Machupicchu was kept secret all these years.