ECUADOR BIRDBANDING, SUMMER 2014, with Michael Walker

Mike Walker writes: My trip to Ecuador was my third time as part of a volunteer crew doing tropical bird population studies at a privately owned nature reserve. The work included 7 days of bird banding across 3 habitat types, two days of forest trail bird surveys, and several days of work on hummingbirds (22 species) and Andean Cock-of-the Rock’s.

My highlight was the studying the birds we captured to gain knowledge of how they use the various habitat types. Our trail surveys identified 165 species, and we captured 317 birds representing 64 species. As part of the team, I banded 40 of those birds representing 28 species. All are amazing birds, but one of the more spectacular birds is in the photo below (my new facebook profile picture): A crimson-rumped Toucanet.

Mike Walker, cotinga51@comcast.net