Birdwatching Machu Picchu

Lost City Bird Guides • Urubamba • Peru

neotropical tanager
cloud forest tree branch
Saffron-crowned Tanager Mandor Gardens

Saffron-Crowned Tanager

A list of birds we have seen from the path along the railroad tracks below Machu Picchu:

Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata)

Andean Guan (Penelope montagnii)

Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus)

Fasciated Tiger-heron (Tigrisoma fasciatum)

Black-crowned Night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Solitary Eagle (Harpyhaliaetus solitarius) -rare

Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus)

Roadside Hawk (Buteo magnirostris)

Black-chested Buzzard-eagle (Geranoaetus melaonleucus)

American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

Andean Gull (Larus serranus)

Band-tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata)

White-tipped Dove (Leptotila verreauxi)

Mitred Parakeet (Aratinga mitrata)

Speckle-faced Parrot (Pionus tumultuosus)

Dark-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus melacoryphus)

Squirrel Cuckoo (Piaya cayana)

Lyre-tailed Nightjar (Uropsalis lyra)

Swallow-tailed Nightjar (Uropsalis segmentata)

Green Hermit (Phaethornis guy)

Sparkling Violetear (Colibri coruscans)

Green Violetear (Colibri thalassinus)

Green-and-white Hummingbird (Amazilia viridicauda)

Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys)

Chestnut-breasted Coronet (Boissonneaua matthewsii)

Bronzy Inca (Coeligena iris)

Collared Inca (Coeligena torquata)

Long-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocercus kingi)

Amethyst-throated Sunangle (Heliangelus amethysticollis)

Booted Racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii)

White-bellied Woodstar (Chaetocercus mulsant)

Highland Motmot (Momotus aequatorialis)

Golden-headed Quetzal (Pharomachrus auriceps)

Black-streaked Puffbird (Malacoptila fulvogularis)

Versicolored Barbet (Eubucco veriscolor)

Blue-banded Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis)

Ocellated Piculet (Picumnusdorbignyanus)

Golden-olive Woodpecker (Piculus rubiginosus)

Crimson-bellied Woodpecker (Campephilus haematogaster)

Crimson-crested Woodpecker (Campephilus melanoleucos)

Azara's Spinetail (Synallaxis azarae)

Streaked Xenops (Xenops rutilans)

Variable Antshrike (Thamnophilus punctatus)

Sclater's Tyrannulet (Phylomyias sclateri)

Ashy-headed Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias cinereiceps)

Spectacled Bristle-tyrant (Phylloscartes orbitalis)

Slaty-capped Flycatcher (Leptogon superciliaris)

Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet (Phylloscartes ventralis)

Sierran Elaenia (Elaenia pallatangae)

White-crested Elaenia (Elaenia albiceps)

Torrent Tyrannulet (Serpophaga cinerea)

Streak-necked Flycatcher (Mionectes striaticollis)

Cinnamon Flyccatcher (Pyrrhomyias cinnamomeus)

Common Tody-flycatcher (Todirostrum cinereum)

Bran-colored Flycatcher (Myiophobus fasciatus)

Smoke-colored Pewee (Contopus fumigatus)

Blach Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)

Rufous-breasted Chat-tyrant (Ochthoeca rufipectoralis)

Golden-crowned Flycatcher (Myiodynastes chrysocephalus)

Social Flycatcher (Myiozetetes similus)

Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melacholicus)

Barred Becard (Pachyramphus versicolor)

Masked Fruiteater (Pipreaola pulchra) -endemic

Andean Cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus)

Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)

Brown-capped Vireo (Vireo leucophrys)

Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas)

Blue-and-white Swallow (Pygochelidon cyanoleuca)

Gray-breasted Wood-wren (Henicorhina leucophrys)

Inca Wren (Thryothotus eisenmanni) -endemic

Mountain Wren (Troglodytes solstiialis)

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

Andean Solitaire (Myadestes ralloides)

White-eared Solitaire (Entomodestes leucotis)

Chiguanco Thrush (Turdus chiguanco)

Glossy-black Thrush (Turdus serranus)

White-capped Dipper (Cinclus leucocephalus)

Silver-beaked Tanager (Ramphocelus melanogaster)

Slaty Tanager (Creugops verticalis)

Oleaginous Hempspingus (Hemispingus frontalis)

Rust-and-yellow Tanager (Thlypopsis ruficeps)

White-lined Tanager (Tachyphonus rufus)

Fawn-breasted Tanager (Pipraeidea melanonota)

Blue-capped Tanager (Thraupis cyanocephala)

Blue-and-yellow Tanager (Thraupis bonariensis)

Palm Tanager (Thraupis palmarum)

Blue-gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus)

Short-billed Bush Tanager (Chlorospingus parvirostris)

Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager (Chlorospingus flavigularis)

Common Bush-Tanager (Chlorospingus ophthalmicus)

Chestnut-bellied Mountain-tanager (Delothraupis castaneoventris)

Silver-backed Tanager (Tangara viridicollis)

Beryl-spangled Tanager (Tangara nigroviridis)

Blue-and-black Tanager (Tangara vassorii)

Golden-naped Tanager (Tangara ruficervix)

Saffron-crowned Tanager (Tanagara xanthocephala)

Blue-necked Tanager (Tangara cyanicollis)

Bay-headed Tanager (Tangara gyrola)

Blue Dacnis (Dacnis cayana)

Capped Conebill (Conorostrum albifrons)

Hepatic Tanager (Piranga flava)

Black-throated Flowerpiercer (Diglossa brunneiventris)

Band-tailed Seedeater (Catamenia analis)

Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina)

Dull-colored Grassquit (Tiaris obscurus)

Black-and-white Seedeater (Sporophilia luctuosa)

Yellow-bellied Seedeater (Sporophilia Nigricollis)

Chestnut-capped Brush-finch (Buarremon brunneinucha)

Tricolored Brush-finch (Atlapetes tricolor)

Black-backed Grosbeak (Pheucticus aureoventris)

Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis)

Tropical Parula (Parula pitiayumi)

Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca)

Canada Warbler (Wilsonia canadensis)

Slate-throated Whitestart (Myioborus miniatus)

Spectacled Whitestart (Myioborus melanocephalus)

Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola)

Pale-legged Warbler (Basileuterus signatus)

Russet-crowned Warbler (Basileuterus coronatus)

Masked Yellowthroat (Geothlypis aequinnoctialis)

Dusky-green Oropendola (Psarocolius atrovirens)

Hooded Siskin (Carduelis magellanica)

Thick-billed Euphonia (Euphonia laniirostris)

Orange-bellied Euphonia (Euphonia xanthogaster)

 

highland

Highland Motmot

Some of the birds listed on this page we see only very occasionally, while many, even some that are deemed quite rare elsewhere, we see almost every time we go out. Some vary seasonally. like (obviously) the migrating birds, but some of the residents as well will mysteriously disappear for months at a time. It is interesting that some birds which were described as"fairly common" when the local bird book was written we have yet to see, while new birds have shown up that appear to have not been in the region before. Clearly the understanding of bird distribution in Perú is still in its infancy. It's part of what makes birding in the neotropics such a kick.