**Due to the high resolution quality of the images in this blog series it is highly recommended to
view posts in Landscape Mode on a desktop PC from the actual blogsite at Ecuador Birding**
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.
A Reflections of the Natural World Blog Post Series by Jim Gain
DAY 6 – Lunchtime
- My Ecuador Species Count including WildSumaco jumps up to: 208 (145 lifers)
- Primary eBird Public Hotspots: WildSumaco Lodge
WILDSUMACO PART 2 — The Midday Rush: More Jewels of the Eastern Andes
As the morning deepens, the tempo at the feeders shifts. Sunlight filters through the canopy, and a new cast of hummingbirds takes the stage. The Rufous-vented Whitetip zips in with a flash of copper and snow-white tail tips, its movements crisp and purposeful. The Black-throated Brilliant, larger and more imposing, hovers with a slow, deliberate confidence—its emerald body and dark throat glowing like polished stone.
In contrast, the Gould’s Jewelfront seems almost unreal, its fiery orange breast and emerald crown catching the light in a way that feels staged. The Violet-headed Hummingbird brings cooler tones to the mix, its head shimmering with deep purples that shift with every angle.
From the shadows, the Napo Sabrewing emerges—broad‑winged, powerful, and surprisingly graceful for its size. When it hovers, the air seems to thrum around it, each wingbeat deliberate and heavy, as if the bird is carved from the forest itself. Its deep emerald tones catch the light in brief, dramatic flashes, giving this large hummingbird an almost regal presence.
And weaving through all of them is the Fork-tailed Woodnymph, a common but endlessly charismatic species whose forked tail and glittering green plumage make it a constant delight. It darts in and out of the feeders with buoyant, playful energy, often pausing just long enough for its iridescence to flare like a tiny green flame. Even in a crowd of more exotic species, the Woodnymph’s lively personality makes it impossible to overlook.
Even the Many-spotted Hummingbird, with its speckled underparts and steady, purposeful flight, adds its own quiet charm to the spectacle. It approaches the feeders with a calm, almost methodical rhythm, its subtle patterning revealing itself only when the bird turns just right in the soft cloudforest light. Though less flashy than some of its neighbors, its understated beauty rewards anyone who takes the time to look closely.
A South American Coati added an unexpected twist to the morning when it climbed out along a thick, overhanging branch to reach a cluster of bananas wired high in a nearby tree. This individual was a rich brownish‑orange, moving with slow confidence as it tore into the fruit—its tail plain and unmarked, unlike the ringed pattern many people expect. Watching this curious mammal feeding above us, framed by cloudforest greenery, was a reminder that WildSumaco’s wildlife surprises aren’t limited to birds; sometimes the forest sends a very different kind of visitor
By midday, the feeders feel like a living gemstone display—each species a different cut, color, and brilliance.
NEXT UP: EB#38 “Sunlit Surprise: The Golden‑Tailed Sapphire’s Rainbow Glow“
Additional Photographs and Video
Previous Ecuador Birding Blog Posts:
- EB48 – Moth Lights and Mountain Birds: A New Chapter Begins at Guango Lodge
Arriving at Guango Lodge felt like entering a cooler, quieter Andean world where dawn birds and the forest’s layered rhythms created a timeless, living welcome woven from mist, movement, and the murmur of the Río Papallacta. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador. - EB47 – Ascending Into Mist and Mountain Air at Río Quijos EcoLodge
Climbing from El Quetzal toward Río Quijos, the day unfolded as a seamless blend of roadside surprises, river‑edge targets, and cloudforest color, each stop adding new species and renewed momentum as the journey pressed on toward Guango Lodge. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador. - EB46 – El Quetzal Bosque Protegido: Songbirds of the Afternoon
An afternoon walk through El Quetzal revealed a calmer, more contemplative side of the forest, where understated songbirds and familiar species offered quiet beauty and character before the journey carried us onward toward new habitats and fresh surprises. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador. - EB45 – Midday Birding Adventures in the El Quetzal Protected ForestEl Quetzal Bosque Protegido unfolded as a lush, hummingbird‑filled sanctuary where the cloudforest’s color, motion, and quiet magic set the stage for a vibrant midday interlude before the forest shifted toward an entirely new cast of characters. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador.
- EB44 – Warm Light in a Cool World: The Cinnamon Flycatcher of San Isidro
A gentle, steady presence in the cloudforest, the Cinnamon Flycatcher became the quiet emblem of renewal—its warm glow and unhurried grace mirroring the author’s own return to clarity and grounding. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador. - EB43 – A New Day of Luck and Light at Cabañas San Isidro
After days of illness and frustration, a clear morning at San Isidro brought a surge of color, energy, and photographic inspiration, marking a joyful return to presence and purpose as the journey moved forward toward new wonders. This blog series chronicles Jim Gain’s experiences with a birding tour in Ecuador.
>>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.
Reflections of the Natural World 
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