phone-icon 1-888-990-5552 email-icon info@rockjumper.com
user-icon
Log in / Register

Ecuador - Western: Chocó Specialities

© Banded Ground Cuckoo by Jonathan Rossouw
Ecuador - Western: Chocó Specialities 2027

16 Oct 2027 - 31 Oct 2027 (16 days)

USD3,500 SPACES AVAILABLE

client-img

Tour Leader: Rockjumper Tour Leader TBC

Book Now

Tour Price (Per person): USD3,500 (GBP2,714 * EUR3,088 * AUD5,448)

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated, and dates may change*

Ecuador - Western: Chocó Specialities 2028

27 Sep 2028 - 12 Oct 2028 (16 days)

USD3,700 SPACES AVAILABLE

client-img

Tour Leader: Robert Williams

Book Now

Tour Price (Per person): USD3,700 (GBP2,869 * EUR3,264 * AUD5,760)

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated, and dates may change*

Our new Chocó Specialities birding tour completes our tour coverage of this incredibly diverse country. Long ignored and historically tricky to reach, the lowland Chocó forests of Northwest Ecuador and the coastal littoral now make for a very appealing tour. The Chocó is an eco-region and biodiversity hotspot that holds the largest number of restricted-range birds of any Endemic Bird Area in the Americas, with 62 species being endemic to the area. Habitats are typically characterised by tropical humid lowland forests and wet cloud-forests. Unfortunately, the Chocó region is also one of the most threatened areas in South America. Deforestation rates are accelerating and habitat destruction has been most severe in the lowlands, especially the coastal plains and foothills. Departing Quito we are introduced to the Andean region of the Chocó with a bevy of normally difficult species including Moss-backed Tanager, the Indigo Flowerpiercer, Beautiful Jay, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Chocó Vireo, Pacific Tuftedcheek, Black Solitaire, Star-chested Treerunner, and Purplish-mantled and Glistening-green Tanagers. We also make a chance to see a few enigmatic antpitta species like Giant Antpitta, Yellow-breasted Antpitta, Ochre-breasted Antpitta and Moustached Antpitta. As we move into the Chocó lowlands, we target Long-wattled Umbrellabird, Brown Wood-Rail, Banded Ground Cuckoo (if it is showing), Ocellated and Stub-tailed Antbirds, Scarlet-breasted Dacnis, and Scarlet-and-white, Blue-whiskered and Lemon-spectacled Tanagers. Five-colored Barbet, Black-tipped Cotinga, Lita and Chocó Woodpeckers, Yellow-green Bush and Golden-chested Tanagers provide the supporting cast to the drab but monotypic Sapayoa and the exceedingly tricky Rufous-crowned Antpitta.

Top Birds

Long-wattled Umbrellabird, Baudo Guan, Brown Wood Rail, Ecuadorian Rail, Dark-backed Wood Quail, Berlepsch's Tinamou, Pinnated Bittern, Roseate Spoonbill, Red-lored Amazon, Rose-faced Parrot, Chocó Trogon, Five-colored, Orange-fronted & Toucan Barbet, Black-breasted & Barred Puffbird, Plate-billed Mountain-toucan, Black-tipped & Blue Cotinga, Red-capped Manakin, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Guayaquil, Lita & Chocó Woodpecker, Ochraceous Attila, Jet, Spotted, Esmeralda’s, Ocellated & Stub-tailed Antbird, Giant Antpitta, Yellow-breasted Antpitta, Moustached Antpitta, Streak-chested Antpitta, Sapayoa, Chocó Poorwill, Chocó Screech-owl, Cloud-forest Pygmy-owl, Beautiful Jay, Chocó Vireo, Short-tailed Woodstar, Humboldt Sapphire, Tooth-billed Hummingbird, Velvet-purple Coronet, Brown Inca, Violet-tailed Sylph, Hoary Puffleg, Empress Brilliant, Pacific Tuftedcheek, Star-chested Treerunner, Black Solitaire, Dagua Thrush, Stripe-throated Wren, Chocó & Nariño Tapaculo, Subtropical Doradito, Pacific Flatbill, Rufous Mourner, Rufous Piha, Scarlet-breasted Dacnis, Moss-backed & Golden-chested Tanager, Yellow-green Bush Tanager, Purplish-mantled, White-winged, Scarlet-and-white, Blue-whiskered, Lemon-spectacled, Glistening-green & Gray-and-gold Tanager, Indigo Flowerpiercer and chances for Banded Ground Cuckoo & Rufous-crowned Gnatpitta (both very rare)

Top Mammals

Brown-headed Spider-monkey, Mantled Howler

Habitats Covered

Chocó tropical lowland forest, Chocó cloud-forest, Tumbesian dry forest, highland lakes

Expected Climate

warm to hot and humid

Max Group Size

8 with 1 Rockjumper leader & local birding leader

Tour Pace & Walking

Our Mega tours are very fast-paced birding adventures designed for the dedicated lister and serious birder. The focus of the tour is to see as many of the endemics and area specials as possible in our given time. In order to cover the necessary route to maximise the species list we tend to spend a single night at most sites and travel large distances. There is very little down time aside from that spent driving from one site to the next. These tours are not suitable for dedicated or avid photographers; inexperienced or new birders; as well as anyone with serious mobility or health challenges.

Accommodation

basic to comfortable lodges

Ease of Birding

moderate birding with some tricky species

Number of Species Expected

400+

Photographic Opportunities

can be difficult inside humid forest but excellent in other habitats

What our clients say about us

Dušan Brinkhuizen
BK - Ecuador 2022

"Really very positive indeed. I really liked Dusan, and there was no question he was an astonishing birder. I'd love to do another tour with him."

Dušan Brinkhuizen
RK, Ecuador 2022

Another amazing Rockjumper tour with Dusan Brinkhuizen. What a great guide and nice person. The tour was a little more rugged than the description on Rockjumper's website. It is NOT for beginners and this should be discretely mentioned. Nice Eco-lodges, food and friendly staff. Beautiful birds. Would recommend adding one additional night at San Isidro. Only one night doesn't seem fair to see the many birds at that altitude other than requiring birders to take the tour preceding the one I was on. Loved the Amazon Basin.

Adam Walleyn
DL, Ecuador - Northern: Ultimate Amazon II 2025

I just completed the Ecuador - Northern II: Choco Cloud Forest; Eastern Andes (Paramo and Cloud Forest); and the Ultimate Amazon: Sumaco Foothills & Rio Napo for a total of 21 days. Adam Walleyn was our head guide and he did a fantasic job. He cleary knew all the birds in the region by both sight and sound and worked extremely hard to get everyone on the tours to see every bird. He was very clear in describing what the agenda was for the day, and what we we'd be doing relative to hiking, terrain, hiking difficulties, etc. He was very well organized and very friendly, a perfect guide. Adam also filled out ebird trip reports for every spot we visited over the 21 days and sent them to all tour members every night, so we could easily keep track of the species seen and immediately accept the reports into our individual ebird accounts. Not including birds only heard and not seen, I had 570 species for the trip. I'd also like to praise Rockjumper's local guide on this entire trip, Marcello. He was very friendly, energetic and man did he know the birds of Ecuador and how to find them. His hearing was absolutely acute and very tuned into the birds. Both guides carried scopes and instantly got birds into scope view for everyone. Very happy with the guides and the overall trip.

Dušan Brinkhuizen
RO, Ecuador 2018

In the Rockjumper tradition, Dušan Brinkhuizen went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure the serious birders in our group found our birds. This included several later night expeditions into the forest for owls and other nocturnal critters. Dušan managed to handle everyone with great patience and skill. A very kind man, dedicated advocate for the environment, a master birder.

Dušan Brinkhuizen
DH & JH, Ecuador

We were so fortunate to be able to experience the top notch birding skills of Dušan. He is very professional but also so personable. It is a tricky thing to manage many different personalities and keep everyone happy but Dusan made our trip so enjoyable.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Your details

  • This field is hidden when viewing the form

  • Contact permission

    We would love to send you Newsletters (twice yearly).via Type a message, Promotions/Discounts (weekly), Blog Articles/Image of the Month (monthly) and other content that we think you would find interesting. If you are happy with this then please select your preferences below. If you would like to unsubscribe from previous subscriptions, or leave our mailing list entirely, then please do so by visiting the Preference Centre link at the bottom of these emails.

Route Map

Tour Route Map

map-direction-img
Download Tour Itinerary