From the cold Andean heights to the hot tropical valleys, the variety of landscapes and natural spaces make this city an ideal destination for such sightings, concentrating a considerable biodiversity of species in the 4,183 square kilometers that comprise the Metropolitan District of Quito.
Attracted by biodiversity, tourists come to the Ecuadorian capital every year from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and other European nations, with the aim of photographing the most unique and difficult-to-find specimens in their natural habitat.
Of the at least 542 bird species that live in Quito, 64 are nationally endemic and one is locally endemic: the black-breasted hummingbird (eriocnemis nigrivestis), an emblematic bird of the capital, as it does not live anywhere else.
Land of condors and hummingbirds
In Quito, 54 other species of hummingbirds also fly at an unusual speed. Among this wide variety are some elegant long-tailed hummingbirds such as the Violet-tailed Hummingbird (Aglaiocercus coelestis), others with record-breaking power such as the Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), and more types such as the Black-throated Hummingbird (Colibri coruscans).
Quito is also home to a large number of the roosts of the at least 150 condors (vultur gryphus) currently registered in the country, sanctuaries where, with the first rays of sunlight, one can appreciate the flight of this emblematic bird of the Andes in the mountainous moors.
This is what happens in Píntag, one of the 33 rural parishes of Quito, known as the city's condor nest as it is the gateway to the Antisana National Park, a 120,000-hectare sanctuary for the sacred bird of the Incas, among other species.
Tropical colour in the Andean Chocó
As you descend, the largest display of tropical birds is found in the Andean Chocó, a biosphere reserve that covers 287,000 hectares northwest of the Pichincha volcano, part of which belongs to the Mancomunidad del Chocó Andino, made up of six rural parishes of Quito (Calacalí, Gualea, Nanegal, Nanegalito, Nono and Pacto).
With a dozen different types of forests, the Andean Chocó is home to exotic specimens such as the rock-billed cock (Rupicola peruviana), distinctive for its crest and orange-red plumage, as well as a considerable variety of toucans, parrots, and quetzals.
The cloud forest is filled with mixed flocks of tanagers, flycatchers, woodcreepers, moss-cutter and warblers, but toucans such as the Andean laminirostri toucan (Andigena laminirostri) and the yumbo (Semnornis ramphastinus) are more elusive.
Birdwatchers also look out for the brown cotara (Aramides wolfi) and the scaled ant-cuckoo (Neomorphus radiolosus), while the elusive tanager finch (Oreothraupis arremonops) lurks in the undergrowth.
Quito's entire natural heritage was recently on display at the 'Global Birdfair', one of the birdwatching events aimed at tour operators, large companies supplying equipment and literature, bird watchers, birdwatchers and public and private organisations involved in conservation and tourism.
In this edition, held from July 12 to 14 in Oakham (United Kingdom), Quito Turismo, the metropolitan agency for the promotion of tourism in the city, positioned the Ecuadorian capital as one of the best places in the world to see more birds per square kilometer, to more than 11,200 visitors.