Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [43]
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A comprehensive overview of the country’s avian life is contained in the 656-page Princeton Field Guide Birds of Peru, by Thomas Schulenberg.
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Other prominent high altitude birds include the Andean gull (don’t call it a seagull!), which is commonly sighted along lakes and rivers as high as 4500m. The mountains are also home to several species of ibis, such as the puna ibis, which inhabits lakeside marshes, as well as roughly a dozen types of cinclodes, a type of ovenbird (their clay nests resemble ovens, hence the name) endemic to the Andes. Area species also include torrent ducks that nest in small waterside caves, gaggles of stocky Andean geese, spotted Andean flickers, black-and-yellow Andean siskins and, of course, a panoply of hummingbirds (see boxed text, Click here).
Swoop down toward the Amazon and you’ll catch sight of the world’s most iconic tropical birds, including boisterous flocks of parrots and macaws festooned in brightly plumed regalia. You’ll also see clusters of aracaris, toucans, parakeets, toucanets, ibises, regal gray-winged trumpeters, umbrella birds donning gravity-defying feathered hairdos, crimson-colored cocks of the rock, soaring hawks and harpy eagles. The list goes on. The best way to see many of these is on a quiet river trip at dawn, which is prime avian feeding time. Many lodges know a local salt lick where flocks of macaws and parakeets come to feed on mineral-laden clay.
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Don Stap’s A Parrot Without a Name: The Search for the Last Unknown Birds on Earth is an engaging narrative that records the discovery of a new parrot species in the Amazon.
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FREQUENT FLYERS
For many bird enthusiasts who visit Peru, the diminutive hummingbirds are among the most delightful to observe. More than 100 species have been recorded in the country, and their exquisite beauty is matched by their extravagant names. There’s the ‘green-tailed goldenthroat,’ the ‘spangled coquette,’ the ‘fawn-breasted brilliant’ and ‘amethyst-throated sunangel.’
Hummingbirds are capable of beating their wings in a figure-eight pattern up to almost 80 times a second, thus producing the typical hum for which they are named. This exceptionally rapid wing-beat enables them to hover in place when feeding on nectar, or even to fly backward. These tiny birds must feed frequently to gain the energy needed to keep them flying.
Species such as the red-headed Andean hillstar, living in the puna (high Andean grasslands), have evolved an amazing strategy to survive a cold night. They go into a state of torpor, which is like a nightly hibernation, by lowering their body temperature by up to 30°C, thus drastically slowing their metabolism.
One of the most unusual species of hummingbird is the marvelous spatuletail, found in the Utcubamba Valley in northern Peru. Full-grown adult males are adorned with two extravagant feathery spatules on the tail, which are used during mating displays to attract females. Though endangered by loss of habitat due to logging and wildfires, it is nonetheless possible to see this bird in the wild. See boxed text, Click here, for more details.
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MAMMALS
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The Living Edens: Manu, Peru’s Hidden Rain Forest, produced by Kim McQuarrie, is a public TV program about a journey deep into the Peruvian Amazon; check out the informative website at www.pbs.org/edens/manu.
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The Amazon is also home to a bounty of exciting mammals. More than two dozen species of monkeys are found here, including howlers, acrobatic spider monkeys and wide-eyed marmosets. With the help of a guide, you may also see sloths, bats, piglike peccaries, anteaters, ambling armadillos and curious coatis (ring-tailed members of the raccoon family). And if you’re really lucky, you’ll find giant