Rainforest Wildlife

Such an abundance of flowers, insects, amphibians, birds and animals – even when difficult to spot, we could hear the howling of the monkeys and the chatter of the birds.  We observed quite a few species of birds from the Canopy Tower and the Kapok Treehouse. 

Frogs and giant insects including tarantulas were plentiful as we observed using flashlights during a nightime walk through the jungle.  We spotted the glowing eyes of caimans during an evening canoe excursion, and experienced a spectacular show of sound and color as we watched hundreds of black-headed and blue-headed parrots perched on a the wall of a clay river bank.

 

 

 

Sacha Lodge houses one of the largest butterfly farms in Ecuador, and we watched butterflies emerge from their chrysalis and take flight for the first time.  Look at the tip of the wing of the owl butterfly – it is camouflaged to look like the face of a snake!

Perhaps the most fun to watch were the monkeys, as a few troops of Squirrel Monkeys and Black-Mantle Tamarins chattered and jumped from tree to tree right outside our lodge.  And we were fascinated by the perseverance of the leaf-cutter ants who worked all day and night.

For best viewing of the gallery below, click on first photo below to enlarge, then click right arrow on keyboard to scroll through the gallery.

 

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List of birds and animals we saw:

Monkeys:

  • Golden Mantle Tamarin
  • Red Howler Monkey
  • Common Squirrel Monkey
  • White-fronted capuchin
  • Black Mantle Tamarin

Reptiles, Amphibians, Insects, other Mammals:

  • Black Agouti
  • Parrot Snake
  • Rainbow Boa Constrictor
  • Spectacle Caiman
  • Caiman Lizard
  • Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth
  • Electric Blue Morpho
  • Pink-toed Tarantula
  • Marching Wasps
  • Piranha
  • Bullet Ants
  • Glass-winged Butterfly
  • Nocturnal Owl Butterfly
  • Wolf Spider
  • Tiger Spider
  • Scinax Ruber Frog
  • Hypsiboas Nephyla Frog

Birds:

  • Anhinga
  • Cocoi Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Snowy Egret
  • Rufescent Tiger-Heron
  • Roseate Spoonbill
  • Black Vulture
  • Greater Yellow-headed Vulture
  • Osprey
  • Slender-billed Kite
  • Yellow-headed Caracara
  • Nocturnal Curassow
  • Dusky-headed Parakeet
  • Black-headed Parrot
  • Blue-headed parrot
  • Mealy Amazon
  • Greater Ani
  • Hoatzin (stinky turkey)
  • Ringed Kingfisher
  • Green and Rufous Kingfisher
  • White-necked Puffbird
  • Many-banded Aracari
  • White-throated Toucan
  • Crimson-crested Woodpecker
  • Sulpher-bellied Flycatcher
  • Tropical Kingbird
  • Black-tailed Tityra
  • Plum-throated Cotinga
  • Spangled Cotinga
  • Purple-throated Fruitcrow
  • Violaceus Jay
  • White-winged Swallow
  • Orange-bellied Euphonia
  • Turquoise Tanager
  • Paradise TanagerYellow-rumped Cacique
  • Russet-backed Oropendola
  • Giant Cowbird
  • Oriole Blackbird