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Ecuador Birding Tours Tours & Travel Packages 2025/2026
5 Ecuador Birding Tours trips. Compare tour itineraries from 3 tour companies. 3 reviews. 5/5 avg rating.
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Top Ecuador Birding Tours Attractions
- Spotting a new species for your life list and feeling the thrill of capturing it on camera
- Hiking through beautiful rainforests on hanging bridges and seeing beautiful macaws and toucans at eye level
- Seeing the powerful Condor soaring overhead in the Andes Mountains
- Watching the famous Blue Footed Boobies do their mating dance on the Galapagos Islands
- The sheer joy of seeing a Galapagos finch hop from lens to lens
Ecuador Birding Tours Tours & Travel Guide
Ecuador Birding Tours Attractions & Landmarks Guide
Ecuador is home to nearly 500 individual bird species, many of them rare, elusive, and endangered. It’s here that many birders flock with their cameras ready to snap the brilliant colors, powerful profiles, and striking faces of distinct avifauna. From the Galapagos to the rainforest there is no better place for birding than Ecuador.
Birding is a thrilling activity for those involved. Checking a new species off your life list, getting the perfect angle for a shot of the brilliant colors, elegant feather patterns, and powerful beaks.
The activity combines many factors like hiking, photography and is a great way to get outside and get a uniquely specific glimpse into the nature, landscapes, weather, and wildlife patterns of a new country.
Birding can be done anywhere (one of the best parts about it!), but by far one of the most coveted regions for spotting not only hundreds of species but some of the world’s rarest, is in Ecuador.
Many tours to Ecuador incporate wildlife viewing into their itineraries, and this will include a focus on the incredible birdlife in the area. Some tours will take it a step further and only be about birding - these are most well suited to serious birders and photographers.
Birding Regions in Ecuador
Pretty much anywhere you go in Ecuador you can have a top notch birding experience. Ecuador is a small, compact county, typically separated into 4 “zones.” The Galapagos, The Amazon, The Andes, and the Pacific. Birding tours in Ecuador will often focus in one zone to allow the maximum amount of time for spotting the country’s diverse avifauna.
The Galapagos - Known for its wildlife, the Galapagos are one of the most famous regions in the world to observe animals in the wild. The species here have never had a cause to fear humans and as a result are incredibly comfortable around them. This allows for some truly remarkable photographs. Birders will enjoy capturing the blue footed boobies doing their famous mating dance or staring down the lens with their humorous expression.
The Ecuadorian Amazon - The Amazon is well known for containing some of the world’s most unique and colorful wildlife. Ecuador’s Amazon lays claim to the most biodiverse pockets of rainforest on earth - including over 400 distinct bird species. You’ll see parrots, macaws, and toucans, three pillars of South and Central America, but even beyond that you’ll find more elusive rainforest dwellers like Quetzals and Nighthawks.
The Ecuadorian Andes - The Andes Mountains are the longest mountain range in the world, spanning 4300 miles along the west coast of South America. In Ecuador they are home to the enigmatic Condor - a bird with one of the largest wingspans in the world. Watching this majestic predator take to the skies is an experience on the life list of almost every birder.
Top 8 Bird Species to Spot on an Ecuador Birding Tour
Ecuador is well known for its biodiversity. You’ll see incredible wildlife every day during your tour. Here are just 8 of the bird species you will encounter - and maybe add to your life list!
1. Condor - A species native to the Andean Mountains, Condor’s are a classic life list bird. Somewhat mystical for their size and elusive nature, spotting one take to the sky with strength, power, and beauty is an unforgettable sight. The species has been around since prehistoric times.
2. Hummingbirds - There are many places to spot hummingbirds in Ecuador. This is a great opportunity for photographers. In particular the Ecuadorian hillstar with its distinctive purple head attracts birders to Ecuador’s many hummingbird gardens.
3. Toucan - There is perhaps no bird species more synonymous with the South American rainforest than the toucan. This enormous billed and colorful species can be spotted in the Choco Region, which is mainly in Colombia, but encompasses part of north western Ecuador.
4. Blue Footed Boobies - This unique species is spotted in largest numbers on the Galapagos Islands, and can also be found along the western coasts of central and northern parts of South America. Known especially for the mating dance that the males perform, of course their brightly colored feet, and their expressive faces, blue footed boobies are a wonderful species to observe.
5. Finches - Those familiar with Darwin’s research know the significance of the Finch species on the Galapagos islands. Upon observing their beak shapes, Darwin began to piece together the evidence for his theories on natural selection and evolution.
When touring the Galapagos islands, you will encounter these small but beautiful and historically significant birds. They are often known to become territorial upon spotting their reflection in camera lenses. Prepare your camera settings before encountering them in order to snap this most unique occurrence.
6. Harpy Eagle - One of the more difficult birds to spot on your tour, but if you do, prepare to be in awe of the remarkable agility, power, and sheer majesty of this species. They are a fierce predator, hunting many mid-size mammals found in Ecuador’s forests.
7. Hoatzin - An unusual but regal looking bird, with elegant crowning feathers and a delicate colors of brown, purple, and red. The Hoatzin is quite pheasant like in size and appearance, and can be found among the rainforests of Ecuador.
8. Scarlet Macaw - Another famous symbol of the tropics, this bright red parrot subspecies is a classic bird sighting in Ecuador. Their bright reds, blues, and yellows are everywhere throughout the rainforests, easy to spot and a definite joy to watch. One of the best ways to get the best photographs of this wonderful species is from the large network of hanging bridges through Monteverde Cloud Forest.
Ecuador Birding Photography Tips
1. Lenses, lenses, lenses. For serious birders, the lense is an enormous help in elevating your photographs. Macro lenses are going to be the best for picking up nuances in color, texture, and expression, but they will require you being very close to your subject. For birds this is especially unpredictable. Telephoto and wide-angle lenses are great for shooting from far away, to capture the wingspan of an impressive predator from ground, or a nest from across the expanse of canopy.
2. Be very patient! A great deal of wildlife photography is in the waiting. But patience is a huge virtue for most. Let the animals come to you is a standard practice, which means you may have to stay in one spot for extended periods of time. Your tour guide can be a huge asset for knowing the best times of day and the best spots for catching a glimpse of a new life list species.
3. Practice with quick shutter speeds. To capture the great moment of a bird lighting off a branch or coming into land, a quick shutter will be the most effective. But go too fast and your photo could look harsh or cold.
4. UV Filters - because you’ll be outdoors, a UV filter will be very helpful for balancing the harsher tones of bright sunlight. While there isn’t much harsh sunlight in the rainforest (here in fact, you may want to go filterless), but out in the open among the Andes and definitely in the Galapagos, where there’s less tree coverage and a lot more direct sunlight.
5. Heights! In the rainforest especially, many species, including birds don’t venture far below the canopy because of the lack of sunlight and the heavy moisture. So the best way to see them? Go to their canopy level. Ecuador is famous for its extensive network of hanging bridges throughout cloud forests and rainforests. This is extremely helpful for bird watching and helps with lighting as well.
Ecuador Birding Tours Reviews & Ratings
Outstading Trip
smarTours...I can't say enough about the outstanding time we had touring Machu Picchu and Galapagos Islands...outstanding guides, service, accommodations and plenty ...
enjoyed the trip
We enjoyed the trip very much. Being a smart traveler lets us enjoy specia...
excellent trip
The Island Hopping on the Galapagos Islands was an excellent trip.
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