Take a Birding Tour

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies Presents

Birding in Peru’s Amazon Basin (Tambopata National Reserve)

Peru ranks second after Colombia with 1,869 confirmed species of birds, of which, 118 are endemic and more than 85% are permanent residents.  Peru is second only to Brazil in the number of endemic birds and second only to Indonesia in the number of bird species with restricted geographical ranges.

Peru is home to the richest oceanic current, the highest and most extensive tropical mountains, and the mighty Amazon River.  Peru is a country of unparalleled diversity with 87 of the world’s 104 climatic zones, encompassing both the driest desert and the second wettest tropical rainforest on the planet.

The Rainforest of the Tambopata Reserve

Tambopata is a river, a national reserve, and a province in the Madre de Dios region, located in southeastern Peru.   The Tambopata Reserve harbors one of the most bio-diverse ecosystems in the world.  It features vast protected areas and is home to several indigenous ethnic groups.  Remote, wild, but still easily accessible, this contrasting combination has helped the Tambopata Reserve become one of the global hotspots for ecotourism.

Massive old growth Ceiba trees and other rainforest giants emerge from a 90-foot-high canopy forest.  Hidden beneath the rainforest are troops of monkeys, toucans, brilliantly colored macaws, and even jaguars.  It’s forest harbors more than 10,000 species of plants, over 600 species of birds, a staggering 200 species of mammals, more than 1,000 butterfly species and literally thousands of species of insects.

Refugio Amazonas Lodge (RAL)

Refugio Amazonas Lodge is in a 200-hectare buffer zone adjacent to the Tambopata National Reserve.  With its wide variety of scientific and nature-oriented activities, Refugio Amazonas Lodge is an excellent example of how ecotourism can help recover wildlife in the Amazon rainforest.  Refugio Amazonas is also the headquarters of the Wired Amazon Program.  Betting on today’s technology, Wired Amazon raises awareness and spreads the importance of the Amazonian tropical forest and the urgency of its conservation and preservation with the help of citizen scientists from all over the world.

The Tambopata Research Center (TRC)

The Tambopata Research Center (TRC) is located within the 700,000-hectare uninhabited nucleus in the Tambopata National Reserve and across from the Bahuaja Sonene National Park, making it one of the most remote lodges in South America.  TRC’s pristine location means that it’s surrounded by the best wildlife the Peruvian Amazon rainforest has to offer.   Because of TRC’s remote location in a Connecticut-sized tract of uninhabited wilderness, it contains stable populations of endangered wildlife.