Photo: Francesco Veronesi (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons
The Mindo Christmas Bird Count has topped 400 species, and the Paz de las Aves eBird hotspot alone has logged 458. A visitor with one week does not chase that list; you pick fifty target birds and let the rest be surprises. This is our working checklist, ordered roughly by how easy each is to see, with the altitude band where you find it.
The easy thirty (gardens, feeders, roadsides, 1,100–1,800 m)
You will get most of these without trying:
- Booted racket-tail
- Violet-tailed sylph
- Brown violetear
- Green thorntail
- Purple-bibbed whitetip
- White-necked jacobin
- Crowned woodnymph
- Blue-gray tanager
- Palm tanager
- Flame-rumped tanager
- Golden tanager
- Silver-throated tanager
- Bay-headed tanager
- Thick-billed euphonia
- Scarlet-rumped cacique
- Rufous motmot
- Masked trogon
- Pale-mandibled aracari
- Crimson-rumped toucanet
- Toucan barbet
- Red-headed barbet
- Blue-necked tanager
- Golden-naped tanager
- Andean motmot
- Social flycatcher
- Great kiskadee
- Yellow-bellied seedeater
- Orange-bellied euphonia
- Strong-billed woodcreeper
- Squirrel cuckoo
Most of this block falls to one morning at a good feeding station plus a walk on the Ruta de las Cascadas.
The planning fifteen (need time, altitude or a guide)
| Species | Altitude band | How |
|---|---|---|
| Plate-billed mountain toucan | 1,600–2,500 m | guided morning, feeders |
| Chocó toucan | valley to mid | fruiting trees, roadside |
| Yellow-throated toucan | lower slopes | river edges |
| Cock-of-the-rock | lek sites near town | dawn, book ahead |
| Giant antpitta | Paz de las Aves | worm-feeding, book 6 AM tour |
| Moustached antpitta | Paz de las Aves | same, harder |
| Yellow-breasted antpitta | Paz de las Aves | same circuit |
| Ochre-breasted antpitta | Paz de las Aves | same circuit |
| Scaled antpitta | reserves | luck + guide |
| Dark-backed wood-quail | Paz de las Aves | feeders, mid-morning |
| Velvet-purple coronet | mid feeders | feeding stations |
| Empress brilliant | mid to high | feeding stations |
| Violet-tailed sylph (photography-grade) | mid feeders | any station |
| Wattled guan | remote reserves | luck, mostly sound |
| Long-wattled umbrellabird | lower western foothills | seasonal, ask locally |
The five "trip birds" (skill, luck and a full day each)
- Ocellated tapaculo — understory skulker, 2,000 m+, heard more than seen
- Orange-breasted fruiteater — Mashpi-Amagusa territory, 1.5–2 h from Mindo
- Black-chinned mountain-tanager — same reserves, ridge fruiting trees
- Glistening-green tanager — Mashpi-Amagusa feeders, worth the drive
- Hooded mountain-tanager — the high band, 2,500 m+
How to use the list
- Print ten lines, not fifty. Pick your ten before you arrive. Guides work far better with targets.
- Sort by altitude, not by beauty. Group your birds into the three bands (roughly 1,100 / 1,800 / 2,500 m) and plan one session per band. That is the structure behind every efficient Mindo itinerary.
- The antpittas are a fixed appointment. Six species fed by hand at Refugio Paz de las Aves, tour leaving around 5:30–6:30 AM. If antpittas are on your list, that morning decides your whole schedule.
- Count honestly, celebrate the misses. A week of good birding here lands 150–250 species. Fifty is a single long weekend.
For what a week looks like in practice, see our 3-to-7-day birding itineraries.
Start here
- Birdwatching in Mindo — the complete guide
- Antpittas at Paz de las Aves
- Hummingbirds of Mindo
- Birding itineraries: 3 to 7 days
- Mindo's Christmas Bird Count
Facts checked: September 2026