"Birding in Lima" Lima Travelogue by Rasta_Rob

I recently spent 48 hours in Lima, Peru on a business trip. Because I was already in Quito, Ecuador when I found out I was going to Lima, I had little time to prepare for my trip to Peru, and ended up going without the benefit of a field guide or even a bird checklist. I did, however, spend a couple hours on the Internet trying to learn as much as possible about birding spots near the city. In the course of conducting my on-line research, I came across the web site of Kolibri Expeditions, a bird-guiding business run by Gunnar Engblom, a Swedish biologist and tour guide who has lived in Peru since 1998. I contacted Gunnar by e-mail and made arrangements for him to pick me up early on Saturday morning, February 17, at my hotel in Lima's Miraflores suburb.

Before leaving Lima, we made a quick stop at Gunnar's office to pick up his passport. While waiting outside in his van, I got good looks at urban species such as Pacific Dove, Croaking Ground-Dove, House Wren, House Sparrow, Bananaquit, Rufous-collared Sparrow, and Shiny Cowbird.

Heading out of town, our first stop was the well-known Pantanos de Villa marshes just south of Lima, where we picked up Gunnar's Peruvian friend Alejandro Tello, the president of a local environmental NGO. With several other stops on our birding itinerary, we didn't spend much time at Pantanos de Villa, but managed to spot Great, Snowy, and Cattle Egrets, Little Blue and Striated Herons, Puna Ibis, White-cheeked Pintail, Plumbeous Rail, Slate-colored Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Peruvian Thick-knee (in a field behind the wetland), Gray-headed Gull, Groove-billed Ani, and Peruvian Meadowlark.

We then continued south to the fishing village of Pucusana. A friend of Gunnar's owns a house in Pucusana overlooking the ocean and several seaside cliffs. From his friend's back porch, we had good looks at Peruvian Pelican, Peruvian Booby, Neotropic, Guanay, and Red-legged Cormorants, Blackish Oystercatcher, Band-tailed and Franklin's Gulls, Inca Tern, and Peruvian Seaside Cinclodes. This is apparently also a good spot for Humboldt Penguins, but they didn't cooperate during my visit.

From Pucusana we continued south along the Pan American Highway to the Puerto Viejo wetlands, located about 70 km south of Lima on the west side of the highway. Here we saw White-tufted and Great Grebes, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Least Bittern, White-cheeked Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, Andean Duck, Common Moorhen, Slate-colored Coot, Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Wren-like Rushbird, Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, Blue-and-White and Barn Swallows, Yellowish Pipit, Cinereous Conebill, Vermilion Flycatcher, and Peruvian Meadowlark.

On the way back into Lima, we saw Black Vultures and an American Kestrel along the highway.

Over a six hour period, we tallied 51 species, and I added 25 new birds to my life list. Following is a list of all species seen:

White-tufted Grebe
Great Grebe
Peruvian Pelican
Peruvian Booby
Neotropic Cormorant
Guanay Cormorant
Red-legged Cormorant
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Striated Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Least Bittern
Puna Ibis
White-cheeked Pintail
Cinnamon Teal
Andean Duck
Black Vulture
American Kestrel
Plumbeous Rail
Common Moorhen
Slate-colored Coot
Blackish Oystercatcher
Black-necked Stilt
Peruvian Thick-knee
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Spotted Sandpiper
Band-tailed Gull
Gray-headed Gull
Franklin's Gull
Inca Tern
Pacific Dove
Croaking Ground-Dove
Groove-billed Ani
Peruvian Seaside Cinclodes
Wren-like Rushbird
Many-colored Rush-Tyrant
Blue-and-white Swallow
Barn Swallow
Yellowish Pipit
House Wren
House Sparrow
Bananaquit
Cinereous Conebill
Rufous-collared Sparrow
Rock Dove
Vermilion Flycatcher
Peruvian Meadowlark
Shiny Cowbird