Mache-Chindul ’94, Ecuador

Andrew Mudd

An ornithological survey carried out during September 1996 in the hills of Mache and Chindul, northern Manabi and southern Esmeraldas provinces, based at the fieldwork centre of Fundacion Jatun Sacha in the Bilsa Biological Reserve. The surveys carried out by Karl Berg, Jon Hornbuckle and Andy Mudd complemented the existing Jatun Sacha work programme and assessed the size and status of bird populations. These first surveys during the 'dry' season confirmed the presence of a number of Andean bird species and Choco endemics, and added 34 species to the Reserve list including the rare Banded Ground-Cuckoo, Sapphire Quail-Dove and Tooth-billed Hummingbird.

Project update: 30/4/98. A survey of the birds of the Jatun Sacha Bilsa Reserve, in the Mache-Chindul hills of northwest Ecuador was conducted by three British and American ornithologists in September 1996. Although the third such survey in the region, it was the third to work in the ‘dry season’ and to employ mist-netting. The presence of a number of Chocó endemics and species found principally in the Andes was confirmed, and 34 species added to the Reserve list including the rare and endangered Banded Ground-Cuckoo (Neomorphus radiolosus), and the Indigo-crowned Quail Dove and Tooth-billed Hummingbird (J. Hornbuckle in litt. 1998, Hornbuckle et al. 1998).