Bilsa - Private Birdwatching Tours | Nature Conservation

Bilsa Research Station Reserve

A pristine reserve located on the Mache-Chindul mountain range. The 3,000 hectare reserve was purchased in 1994 by Jatun Sacha from the local “Colonos” and managed to conserve its magic and provide base for their Biological Station. The Mache-Chindul Mountains (120,000 hectares) are one of the few remaining wet premontane forest feed by moisture from the ocean in the form of fog, mist, and rain. There is great biodiversity and a stunning variety of birds that include endemics from the Choco bioregin and also species from the the Andean Western Slopes which are more than 100 km away. There are 330 bird species recorded at Bilsa and more than 490 recorded in the Mache-Chindul.

The most notorious birds found on this reserve are the Banded Ground-Cuckoo (Neomorphus radiolosus), Long-wattled Umbrellabird (Cephalopterus penduliger), Gray-backed Hawk (Leucopternis occidentalis), Baudo guan (Penelope ortoni), Brown Wood-Rail (Aramides wolfi).

The conservation status of this Jatun Sacha reserve is excellent while its parent reserve, the Mache-Chindul Mountains have been totally invaded by Colonos for more than 50 years since the Agrarian Revolution in 1962. Currently all of the 120,000 hectares of this reserve is under private ownership, some of them with rightful titles, but must most of them by possession. The last census of 2000 counted more than 6,000 people living in this reserve so today there must be more than 10,000 (my own guess). The government has been working with the people of this reserve for six years in an effort to educate on the values of conservation for this most special place.

Here is a link to an article that describes the troubles of Mache Chindul

Here is a link to the site sheet for International Birdlife IBA Mache Chincul Ecological Reserve

Here is a link to the Mistry of Ambien: Management Plan for Mache Chindul

BIRDS of Bilsa Reserve


Crested Guan	Scaled Pigeon	Blue Ground-Dove	Bronze-winged Parrot

Rose-faced Parrot	Striped Cuckoo	Purple Crowend Fairy	Long-billed Strathroat

Western White-tailed Trogon	Collared Trogon Male	Collared Trogon Female	Golden-olive Woodpecker

Black-cheeked Woodpecker	White-wiskered Puffbird	Pale-mandibled Aracari	Spotted Woodcreeper

Slaty Spinetail	Slaty Spinetail	Buff-throated Foliage Gleaner	Western Slaty-Antshrike

Dot-winged Antwren	Chestnut-backed Antbird	Sooty-capped Flycatcher	Southern-beardless Tyrannulet

Yellow-bellied Elaenia	Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant	Juvenile Ornate Flycatcher	Dusky-capped Flycatcher

Rufous Piha	Long Wattled Umbrellabird	Red-capped Manakin	White-bearded Manakin

Southern Nitghtingale Wren	Bay Wren	Tawny-faced Gnatwren	Dagua Thrush

Ecuadorian Thrush	Buff-rumped Warbler	Olive-crowned Yellowthroat	Bay-headed Tanager

Emerald Tanager	Blue-neck Tanager	Lesser Seed-Finch	Blue-black Grassquit-female

Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch	Ocre-breasted Tanager	Slate-colored Grosbeak