TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL

 3/23/21

We left at 5:30 heading to the Reserve of Angel Paz.  Rosie and I had been here in February of 2008, and I’d heard a few changes were made to improve things.  But first, a little history:

Back in the early part of this century, a farmer named Angel Paz was digging a trail through the forest on his property.  He noticed a large, brown bird coming to eat the worms he exposed.  He mentioned this to Ian Campbell, owner of the Tanayapa Lodge, who told him that if he could train them to eat worms, he could make a lot of birders happy and start a good business.  The Giant Antpitta can be heard in some places, but to see one is very difficult.  And since Angel already had a Cock-of-the-Rock lek on his property, the recipe for business was hatched, and he was the first to start the venture of habituating Antpittas.  

Since then he has trained the following birds,  all very difficult to actually see and has welcomed thousands of birders to his property:  Dark-backed Wood-Quail, Ocellated Tapacoulo, Yellow-breasted, Moustached and Ocher-breasted Antpittas.   He has also given each one a name as well.  He also has well designed garden areas and shelters set up for feeding both hummingbirds, tanagers, and a few others.   

We got to the Cock-of-the-Rock lek about 06:00.  There is a large blind downhill from the main “road,” and the birds were already vocalizing. They were some 120 feet away and hidden by the foliage.  Often they would come closer and perch in the open, but today was not one of those days.  I was only able to get one poor quality picture.

Male Cock-of-the-Rock

They are a crow sized bird, fire engine red with black and white wings and a tuft that almost acts like an umbrella.  At this particular lek there were 5-6 males who were vying for the rights to mate with a female.  I really wish I had a good pic to share, but such happens sometimes.  Most of the rest of the day went better.  

After the “show” was over, we went to see Maria, the Giant Antpitta.  While Angel was with the small group of us, his brother Rodrigo was trying to call and coax Maria to her feeding area.  But it appeared she was taking the day off.  The rest of the day went better.

We walked up the road a bit where Angel was busy trying to coax in some Dark-backed Wood Quail.  This small covey he has had success with for at least 12 years as we had seen them in 2009.  Presently he was working with a pair who had one youngster.  But only one of the adults came for banana today.

Dark-backed Wood Quail

We drove a bit up the road to the next stop, to look for “Willie,” the Yellow-breasted Antpitta.  Rodrigo had already fed him a little, so he was close by his feeding area.  Angel put a few more worm pieces out on a small log for him and spoke some sweet words,  and he showed up in about a minute.

Yellow-breasted Antpitta

The next stop was a short drive and a short walk into the forest on the trail to the old lek/blind.  We met Rodrigo at the feeding site, where both the Moustached and Ochre-bellied Antpittas were already feeding.  Rodrigo would toss a tasty morsel (worm) down to either of them.  

Moustached Antpitta

Ochre-bellied Antpitta

Ochre-bellied Antpitta

These 3 Antpittas were lifers for me, so this was great fun.  Just a few feet down the trail we tried for a Cloud-forest Pygmy Owl, and after Angel played the song, the small owl piped up.  We only saw him when he flew, but he stayed nearby tooting.  We gave up trying to call him back after about 15 minutes.  On the way back out we saw a few birds, which included the following:

Female Masked Trogon

Montained Woodcreeper

After seeing a few more birds of the area, we headed to Angels eating area for brunch.

Angel, Me, Javiar and our driver whose name I cannot remember

Angel Paz and Me

We stayed by afterwards to see what might come to the feeders, and saw this lovely Crimson-rumped Toucan, as well as a few others.

Crimson-rumped Toucan.  What a beaauty!

Blue-winged Mountain Tanager

Crested Guan

Just another Golden-naped Tanager

Black-chinned Mountain Tanager

Golden Tanager

Way back in the early part of the century, it was not possible for Angel to know where all this might lead.  His has a thriving business now which was a nice change from subsistence farming.  But the idea caught on, and little by little others have learned how to feed Antpittas not only in Ecuador but in other countries as well.  

Angel is a special person.  His last name "Paz" means peace, and I sense such emanating from him.  He seems to have a close relationship with some unique birds, and it appears they respect him as well.  He has made numerous birders happy showing them the difficult to see Antpitta and others, as well as inspired many others to do the same all over Latin America.  I nice example of Eco-Toursim