Tag Archives: clay licks

Yellow-crowned Parrot (Amazona ochrocephala)

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The Yellow-crowned Amazon or Yellow-crowned Parrot (Amazona ochrocephala), is a species of parrot, native to the tropical South America and Panama.  Subspecies include xantholaema, nattereri and panamensis.

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Sorry they are a bit blurry, I was trying to focus on them as part of a large group at the Napo clay lick.  They have quite a large range in in Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. I saw these guys at the large parrot clay lick near Napo Wildlife Center.  Also try looking for them at clay licks near Tambopata & Manu in Peru.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT YELLOW-CROWNED PARROTS

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This wasn’t easy as there are hundreds of videos of these birds as pets but few in the wild.  This pair in swift flight is very typical of how quick you have to be to get a decent shot.

This is in an aviary but at least it’s a nice close-up!

 

 

 

Cobalt-winged Parakeet (Brotogeris cyanoptera)

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The Cobalt-winged Parakeet (Brotogeris cyanoptera) is a species of bird in the Psittacidae family.  Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.

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I took the 1st 2 shots at the small parrot clay lick near Napo Wildlife Center.  The shot below is from Wikipedia since we didn’t get the full spectacle the day we were there.

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They have quite a large range in in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. A top spot to see them is the small parrot clay lick near Napo Wildlife Center.  Also try looking for them at clay licks near Tambopata & Manu in Peru.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT COBALT-WINGED PARAKEETS

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The clay lick scene can be amazing if you get lucky!  By contrast, I only saw around 6-8 parakeets in the trees.

 

Here’s a digiscoped clip of a hungry parakeet.

 

 

 

 

Small Parrot Clay Lick Near Napo Wildlife Center

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The smaller parrot clay lick at Napo Wildlife Center is located down a short trail near the Anangu Kichwa Village.  It’s not visible from the river like the large clay lick so you need a guide from one of the lodges.  The visit fee is included if you are staying at  Napo Wildlife Center or by paying $15 if you are at one of the other lodges.

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Keep an eye out for river birds such as the Roseate SpoonbillIMG_4384 IMG_4385a IMG_4395a IMG_4398a

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Yellow-headed Caracara

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Pied LapwingIMG_4413a

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Landing dock for the clay lickIMG_4414

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Although we began the trip with several tourists and 2 guides, the weather wasn’t looking good for the 2nd clay lick so one guide took us down the trail and the other guide took the other tourists to the village.  This was our only chance to see the 3 parrot species that are known to visit this clay lick – Cobalt-winged Parakeet, Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlet & Orange-cheeked Parrot.  I knew we had to be patient and wait, so wait we did.  There were lots of butterflies but they were hard to photograph.IMG_4424

Finally a few Cobalt-winged Parakeets gathered in the trees but didn’t come down to the clay lick.  In good weather, there can be hundreds of parrots crowding the clay lick so we were disappointed not to see the numbers but at least we saw the birds!IMG_4432 IMG_4432a IMG_4441 DSCN2040 DSCN2040a IMG_4443 IMG_4442a

The Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlets & Orange-cheeked Parrots never showed up.  I didn’t give up easily but finally had to admit defeat when the last Cobalt-winged Parakeet flew off and the surrounding forest grew quiet.

eBird Checklist

 

Dusky-headed Parakeet (Aratinga weddellii)

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The Dusky-headed Parakeet (Aratinga weddellii), also known as Weddell’s Conure or Dusky-headed Conure in aviculture, is a small green Neotropical parrot with dusty grey head found in wooded habitats in the western Amazon Basin of South America.

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They have quite a large range in in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. I saw these guys at the large parrot clay lick near Napo Wildlife Center.  Also try looking for them at clay licks near Tambopata & Manu in Peru.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT DUSKY-HEADED PARAKEETS

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This hungry little guy is eating acai berries.

And here’s some clay lick action!

 

 

Large Parrot Clay Lick – Napo Wildlife Center

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For the parrot lover, this is the biggest draw to the Ecuadorian Amazon.  Some people call it the big parrot clay lick, on eBird it’s called Parrot Lick #1.  It’s the larger one you see from the river while seated in a boat.  You do get pretty close but to land would be too close and scare the birds away.  This is a must for anyone staying at Napo Wildlife Center and will be a highlight of your trip!

This isn’t where you get huge life lists.  There are 5 parrot species that visit the clay lick here (though you may get flyovers of other species) – Dusky-billed Parakeet, Blue-headed Parrot, Yellow-crowned Parrot, Mealy Parrot & White-eyed Parakeet.  In the pictorial below, it should be pretty easy to pick them out so I am just going to post the photos in consecutive order to show the waves of parrots that flew in and out over around 40 minutes.  It was a great day as they would land, eat clay, fly off and then perch in trees waiting to come back.  Or the second waves could have been different birds.  Still it was awesome!

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Planning A Birding Trip To Yasuni National Park, Ecuador

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For any birder, the Yasuni National Park is a MUST when you visit Ecuador for it’s amazing biodiversity and stunning parrot clay licks.  The good news – you will see lots of birds!  The bad news – it won’t be cheap!  The main birding lodges are only accessible by river and each lodge has its own boat so you need a package that includes your accommodation, transfers and full board as there is no where else to eat out there.  You can’t get to any of the lodges my road or by public transport.  You may see cheaper “backpacker” packages advertised but they won’t be to the Yasuni National Park and you won’t see as many birds nor visit the clay licks.  Those packages are more for people who just want a “jungle experience”.  First you need to get to Coca, the gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon.

There is a nice map and overview on Birds in Ecuador website.  I have highlighted the lodge we stayed at – Napo Wildlife Center and the approximate location of the clay licks.

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There is one way to save a bit of money.  You can use Avianca Lifemiles to pay for the flight from Quito to Coca which is a bargain at only 3000 miles.  Most lodges and tour operators will quote a package including this flight so be sure to ask for the price without the flights.  I also recommend going back to Quito by bus and stopping at some other lodges like WildSumaco, Cabanas San Isidro and Guango Lodge so in that case just redeem your one way flight.  I’ll be reviewing those lodges in turn as this report progresses.

CHOOSING A LODGE

You really can’t go wrong with the ones that are near the parrot clay licks.  There isn’t a huge difference in price between them and bear in mind that only Napo Wildlife Center includes both parrot clay licks in the price of their package although other lodges can go there with an entry fee of $15 per person (2016).  You can use travel agents to compare costs and see if there are any special deals going on but note that the clay licks are far less active in the rainy season.  Here is an example of a travel agency I found by Googling.  They have packages to all the lodges and you can see the different prices.  The ones that are cheaper aren’t in the Yasuni National Park where you can visit the clay licks.

This is probably going to be the most expensive part of your trip to Ecuador unless you also do a Galapagos cruise so I suggest taking a lot of time and doing your homework.  Look at each lodge’s website and email them to see if they have any specials going on.  Check travel agencies too.  Also make sure they quote without the Quito-Coca flights if you are using miles.  Make sure you can pay with a credit card, it’s a lot of points as a travel related charge on a Citi Thank You Premier or a Chase Sapphire Preferred!

Napo Wildlife Center

Yasuni Kichwa Ecolodge Tour – this is a sister lodge to NWC and is located in the Anangu village.  We visited the village for lunch on the parrot clay lick day and I found out that they have accommodation that is cheaper than NWC and you are actually closer to the clay licks.  I recommend trying to get a package that gives you a couple days in each location as NWC is closer to the canopy tower so you can have the best of both worlds!

Sacha Lodge

La Selva

Sani Lodge

The main things you want to know besides the price is to make sure they will give you a naturalist guide who knows the birds very well and it’s a good idea to make sure the guide will have a scope.  Our guide had one and it made a huge difference to seeing some species in the distance while on top of the canopy tower.

If you are a single or couple, you will be grouped with the other people who arrive with you that same day and assigned a guide.  This worked out well for us as we had excellent guides who found lots of birds and mammals.  It could have gone wrong if there had been small kids in the group who would make noise and scare the birds.  I did see a family with 2 small kids on the dock as we were boarding and I was hugely relieved when they got onto another boat!

If your finances allow, the lodges can also arrange a private guide that will concentrate on what you want to see.  This could come in handy if the other people get bored with birds and want to move on before you have finished watching the birds.  You would be able to spend as much time with the birds you want to watch.

Whatever you do, just GO to the Ecuadorian Amazon, it will be a highlight of your trip!