A Reflections of the Natural World Blog Post Series by Jim Gain
Ecuador Birding – Where Every Feather Tells a Story
From October 26, 2025 through November 8, 2025 I joined 5 other adventurers and an outstanding photographer and birding guide (Liron Gertsman) with Eagle-Eye Tours to Ecuador. This blog series highlights the animals (mostly birds), people and locations we encountered over the 14 full days in this beautiful land.
DAY 4 – Morning
- My Ecuador Species Count including the entire day at Sani Lodge and Canopy Tower jumps up to: 162 (114 lifers)
- Primary eBird Public Hotspot: Sani Lodge
The Double‑toothed Kite is one of those Amazon birds that rewards patience. It doesn’t burst onto the scene with the drama of a macaw or the prehistoric swagger of a Hoatzin. Instead, it appears like a quiet shadow—calm, composed, and utterly confident in its place in the forest. At Yasuní, that subtlety made the moment even more striking. We first spotted it perched motionless on a slender branch, its slate‑gray plumage blending seamlessly with the dim understory light. Only the bright orange cere and legs gave it away, tiny sparks of color against the muted greens. The bird’s posture was classic Double‑toothed Kite—upright, alert, and patient. It’s a species that doesn’t waste energy. Instead, it waits for opportunity to come to it. In Ecuador, this kite is famous for its unusual hunting strategy: shadowing troops of monkeys. As the primates leap through the canopy, they flush insects, lizards, and small vertebrates, and the kite swoops in to snatch the fleeing prey. It’s a clever partnership—one that requires timing, agility, and a keen sense of the forest’s rhythms.
A Familiar Face in a New Forest
Seeing the species here brought back memories of my first encounter in Costa Rica. There, I watched a Double‑toothed Kite follow a group of capuchins through the mid‑canopy, gliding effortlessly from perch to perch. It felt like watching a quiet professional at work—never hurried, never showy, just perfectly attuned to the chaos around it. But in Ecuador, the bird felt different. The Amazon’s vastness gives it a grander stage. The kite seemed more solitary, more self‑possessed, perched above the black‑water lagoon like a sentinel. When it finally launched into the air, its flight was smooth and buoyant, wings flexing with a kind of understated elegance.
A Closer Look at Its Name
Despite the dramatic name, the “double‑toothed” part refers not to fangs but to small notches on the upper mandible, which help the kite grip and dispatch prey. It’s a subtle feature—easy to miss unless you’re close—but it speaks to the bird’s precision. Everything about this species is built for efficiency.
It was a brief encounter, but one that captured the essence of the Double‑toothed Kite: quiet mastery, subtle beauty, and a deep connection to the pulse of the forest.
It remained there for most of our time aloft, watching the canopy with calm, predatory patience. Only when we became absorbed in the activity of a pair of GOLDEN-BELLIED EUPHONIAS—both of them busily ferrying bits of nesting material to a hidden nook just below the platform—did the kite take its leave, slipping silently into the forest without any of us noticing until it was already gone.
NEXT UP: EB#28 “An Afternoon of Soft Rainforest Harmonies Around the Lodge“
Additional Photographs and Video
Previous Ecuador Birding blog posts will be linked below.
- EB73 – Colors in the Canopy: Meeting the Toucan Barbet at Tandayapa
A single, resonant call drew us from the moth‑light quiet into the vivid presence of the Toucan Barbet, a cloudforest icon whose bold colors and commanding voice anchored the entire morning in unforgettable brilliance. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB72 – Drawn to the Flame: Photographing New Birds at Tandayapa’s Moth Light
At dawn beneath the moth lights at Tandayapa Lodge, we shifted from the previous night’s flash‑photography lessons into a challenging but magical low‑light session that revealed a Three‑striped Warbler and a quartet of Funariidae woodcreepers and treehunters. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB71 – Freezing Wings in Mid‑Air: An Afternoon Flash Photography Class
Our late afternoon at Tandayapa Lodge transformed into a masterclass in high‑speed flash photography, where we learned to freeze hummingbirds in mid‑air and reveal details the human eye could never catch on its own. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB70 – Behind the Scenes: My Photo Processing Process — From Download to Gallery Display
This behind‑the‑scenes look walks through my complete post‑processing workflow—from organized hard‑drive folders and Lightroom edits to eBird documentation and SmugMug gallery uploads—showing how each image travels from field capture to final presentation. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB69 – Illuminating the Iridescence: Hummingbirds of Tandayapa Lodge Through Forest Light
A late‑afternoon return to Tandayapa Lodge offered the perfect chance to capture hummingbirds in their natural light—iridescence glowing, wings blurring, and the cloud‑forest atmosphere turning every moment into a fleeting spark of color. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature. - EB68 – More Colorful Songbirds at Guaycapi
As the hummingbirds faded into the background, a fresh wave of brilliantly colored tanagers swept through Guaycapi Lodge, setting the stage for an afternoon of dazzling forest jewels This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with birds and nature.
>>Ecuador Birding Blog Home Page Link https://reflectionsofthenaturalworld.com/ecuador-birding/
*This Ecuador Birding blog post was shaped and polished with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot, helping bring clarity and a consistent flow to my field notes and dictated memories.
**Unless otherwise indicated in the image caption, all photographs (>99%) are mine.
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