The Abra Patricia-Alto Nieva Private Conservation Area and Conservation Concession span over 24,000 acres of cloud forests in the Department of Amazonas, along the Northern Peru Birding Route, and is adjacent to the Alto Mayo Protection Forest. It is one of the premier birding destinations in Peru, itself one of the premier countries for birding in the world. ECOAN’s Owlet Lodge at Abra Patricia is the perfect base to concentrate several days of birding and stop along route to other regional birding spots, such as Waqanki, Huembo, and Gotas de Agua. Owlet Lodge is a 4-5 hour drive from the airport in Tarapoto.
The area's bird list includes over 300 species including many endemic to Peru. 23 bird species are considered globally threatened. Abra Patricia is designated as an Alliance for Zero Extinction site, triggered by the presence of the Long-whiskered Owlet and Ochre-fronted Antpitta – both classified as Endangered. Other rare, threatened birds include the Royal Sunangel, Johnson’s Tody-Tyrant, Ochre-breasted Tody-Tyrant, and Pale-billed Antpitta. Several songbirds that breed in North America such as the Swainson's Thrush, Blackburnian Warbler, and Cerulean Warbler winter in the forests of the Abra Patricia as well. Abra Patricia is also home to the Critically Endangered Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey and a diversity of other wildlife and rare orchids. Marvelous Spatuletails are just an hour’s drive away at Huembo.
Night birding is excellent, with Rufous-banded Owl, White-throated Screech-Owl, Andean and Common Potoos, and various nightjars and nighthawks possible. Long-whiskered Owlets and Cinnamon Screech-Owls are regularly heard and seen during nightwalks guided by ECOAN staff to known territories.
The area now has a state of the art birding tourism lodge where you can stay right in the thick of the action. The lodge features a dining hall and private bungalows arranged as suites. The reserve offers birders many miles of trails, as well as a canopy tower a short walk from the lodge. Fruit and hummingbird feeders have been set up by the visitor center and bungalows. Park guards are working hard to habituate antpittas to worm-feeding, and visitors are already enjoying a fearless Undulated Antpitta accustomed to this practice.
Abra Patricia is an excellent base from which to access the Alto Mayo Protection Forest for specialities of lower elevations, including the endemic Ash-throated Antwren which can be seen near the Llantaria in this area.
Contact us for more info
|
