Paz the las aves reserve, Antpitta sanctuary and Cock-of-the-rock lek.

Our birding tour starts at 5:00am, with a pickup from your hotel in Quito. We will drive to the western slopes of the Andes, to the heart of the Cloud Forest, to watch the amazing displays of the bizarre Andean Cock-of-the-rocks.

When the display is over, we will take short walks with Angel and Rodrigo the owners of this unique bird sanctuary, they will help us find some very elusive birds from the dense forest understory, like the Giant, Ochre-breasted, Yellow-breasted, Moustached and Chestnut-crowned Antpittas. They can be seen at very close distance thanks to Angel and Rodrigo's hand feeding techniques.

We will break for some excellent local coffee around 9:00am, close to the hummingbird feeders station. Here you can enjoy viewing the Velvet-purple Coronet, Empress Brilliant, and the Booted Racket-tail, Violet-tailed Sylph. Nearby there are banana feeders to see Blue-winged Mountain Tanagers, Golden-naped, Palms, Blue gray tanagers, Crimson-rumped Toucanets, Golden-headed Quetzals, Toucan Barbets (seasonally) and the Black-chinned Mountain Tanager Choco endemics.

Lunch will be on route to Quito at the restaurant Mirador Guaycapi, which is close to a wonderful bird garden with an amazing diversity of hummingbird species which can be observed from a close distance. Purple-bibbed Whitetips, Western Emeralds, Purple-throated Woodstars, Crowned Woodnyms, Green-crowned Brilliants, White-whiskered Hermits, Brown Violetears, and Andean Emeralds can be seen along with Golden-olive Woodpeckers, Red-headed Barbets, White-lined Tanagers which cluster about the banana feeders.

After a short walk close to the Alambi river, we will return to Quito.

Elevation: 1,700m / 5;570ft