Antpittas and an Entraprenurial Ecuadorian Farmer

On our departure from Quito, the lodge at Reserva Las Gralarias was our destination for the day and accommodations for the next 5 nights. The namesake for this reserve and lodge is a group of birds called Antpittas - the Genus for many of which is Grallaria. Most species of the group are secretive and skulking birds of forest undergrowth and floor, so they are very difficult to observe. Because of this difficulty, species in the group are highly sought after by many of the birders who visit their haunts, and success rates have historically been on the low side. These are not flashy, colorful birds, so the difficulty of observation seems to be the key to their "popularity".

In 2004, a local landowner - Angel Paz - with a small farm decided to try to take advantage of the birding and ecotourism business that was a real growth industry in Ecuador. He was aware of a Cock-of-the Rock Lek - communal display ground - on the lower portion of his property. This is another sought after bird because of its strange looks and communal display. In the process of building a trail down to the Lek where he would build a viewing "hide" or blind, he noticed some other birds coming out on the freshly dug soil to eat earthworms and other readily available insects. He recognized these birds as several species of Antpittas, and was apparently aware of the difficulty of observing them. So after the trail was complete, he decided to try to feed these birds with worms so that they might become somewhat trained and more observable. Local gossip has it that his wife was upset with his efforts and nagged him about "wasting his time every morning going down to feed those darn chickens". But Angel was successful in his efforts with the birds, and while still cautious, he could usually coax them - with food and his call imitations - to near the trail where they were more easily observed. Word spread quickly about his success and birders began to show up in increasing numbers. Now the local gossip has it that his wife nags him every day to" get down there and feed those chickens".

On the morning of 14 January 2010, we arose early and left Las Gralarias about 4:45am for Angel Paz's farm and reserve. Angel and another small group met us there and we headed down the trail with flashlights by 5:30am. It took perhaps 30 or more minutes to reach the Cock-of-the-Rock "hide" on a trail that was good but on the steep side. Unfortunately, the Lek was not very active that morning and we only herd the Cock-of-the-Rock males from a distance. After looking at some other neat birds, we hiked down to the creek at the valley bottom and began the Antipitta search. On the way down, we were fortunate to see a nest of a Giant Antpitta, only the second one ever found. The Antpittas were very cooperative that morning and we managed to see and get photo images of 4 different species. Several Dark-backed Wood-Quail, another very secretive bird often heard but rarely seen, were also coaxed into a marginal viewpoint with some expert mouth calling by one of Angel's helpers.

A Yellow-breasted Antpitta was the first of the morning. The quality of the images I got of these birds was marginal because of the very low light conditions. For you photographers, I was using a 400mm lens and shooting at shutter speeds from a high of 1/25 of a second down to 4/10ths of a second. Pretty tough!! A Giant Antpitta was the largest species. This Ochre-breasted Antpitta did not want to come out of the undergrowth.Angel and his family continue with their farming operation, but their income is supplemented with the fees that they charge birders for a morning of birding and a light brunch after the climb back up the hill. This extra income has enabled them to buy a new pickup truck and their their thoughts of clearing more land for the farming operation are now not necessary to make a better life for their family. You can read more about this story at Angels' website. The cost of the visit including the meal was $20 per person. Other people and lodges have adopted Angel's approach to these skulkers so birds of the Genus Grallaria are no longer as difficult to observe as they were just several years ago.

Now back to Reserva Las Gralarias. This is a relatively new and great place to stay. The rooms are wonderfully clean and the meals excellent. The lodge and reserve are owned by Jane Lyon, a PhD Biogeographer who fell in love with Ecuador, bought a large parcel of what was formerly grazing land, and let it revert back to forest. She maintains several hummingbird feeder sites that are among the best we found on this trip for viewing and photographing these intriguing birds.