


Top 20 Most Common Bird in Chimborazo
Located in the heart of the Andes, Chimborazo is characterized by its steep terrains and cold climates, hosting a unique avian life. 20 prominent birds thrive here, exhibiting adaptations like larger hearts and hemoglobin optimization to endure thin air. Noteworthy for their vibrant colors, distinctive vocalizations, and diverse diets, these species encapsulate the rich biodiversity of Chimborazo.

Most Common Bird

1. Flame-rumped Tanager
The flame-rumped tanager (Ramphocelus flammigerus) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in semi-open forest and woodland. The most widespread subspecies, icteronotus, is found in the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and is sometimes considered a separate species, the lemon-rumped tanager (R. icteronotus). However, it is known to hybridize with the nominate subspecies from the Cauca Valley in Colombia. Males of both subspecies have a mainly black plumage and a narrowly black-tipped pale bluish bill. The rump of the male P. f. icteronotus is yellow, while it is red in P. f. flammigerus. In females, the head, wings and tail are blackish-brown and the underparts are mainly yellow. The rump is yellowish in the female P. f. icteronotus, while the rump, vent and chest are orange-red in P. f. flammigerus.


2. Scrub Blackbird
The scrub blackbird (Dives warczewiczi) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru and its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.


3. House Wren
Watch out for the small yet aggressive house Wrens; they are extremely territorial and think nothing of harassing other birds and their nestlings if they want to take their spot! They have been known to kill nestlings and even adult birds to get a nest hole they want. Once house Wrens lay eggs, the nest needs to stay below 100 degrees and above 65 degrees or the eggs will not survive—this could be the reason they are so particular about their nesting spots.

4. White-whiskered Hermit
The white-whiskered hermit (Phaethornis yaruqui) is a hummingbird that is found in Colombia and Ecuador.


5. Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
The adult rufous-tailed hummingbird is 10–12 cm (3.9–4.7 in) long and weighs approximately 5.2 g (0.18 oz). The throat is green (edged whitish in the female), the crown, back and flanks are green tinged golden, the belly is pale greyish, the vent and rump are rufous and the slightly forked tail is rufous with a dusky tip. The almost straight bill is red with a black tip; the black is more extensive on the upper mandible, which may appear all black. Immatures are virtually identical to the female. The call is a low chut, and the male's song is a whistled tse we ts’ we or tse tse wip tseek tse. The female rufous-tailed hummingbird is entirely responsible for nest building and incubation. She lays two white eggs in a compact cup nest constructed from plant-fibre and dead leaves and decorated with lichens and mosses 1–6 m (3.3–19.7 ft) high on a thin horizontal twig. Incubation takes 15–19 days, and fledging another 20–26.


6. Blue-grey Tanager
The blue-gray tanager is 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) long and weighs 30–40 g (1.1–1.4 oz). Adults have a light bluish head and underparts, with darker blue upperparts and a shoulder patch colored a different hue of blue. The bill is short and quite thick. Sexes are similar, but the immature is much duller in plumage. The song is a squeaky twittering, interspersed with tseee and tsuup call notes.


7. Pale-legged Hornero
The pale-legged hornero (Furnarius leucopus) is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It includes the Pacific hornero (F. leucopus cinnamomeus) and the Caribbean hornero (F. leucopus longirostris), which often are considered separate species. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. It occurs in a wide range of wooded habitats, especially near water.


8. Scale-crested Pygmy-tyrant
The scale-crested pygmy tyrant (Lophotriccus pileatus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It was given its name for the small crown-like ring of feathers on the top of its head. It raises these feathers both to attract a mate and to seem larger when frightened. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, and possibly Honduras. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Not much is known about the habits or breeding of the bird.


9. Tropical Kingbird
An adult tropical kingbird is 22 cm (8.7 in) long, weighs 39 g (1.4 oz) and has a wingspan range of 38–41 cm. The head is pale gray, with a darker eye mask, an orange crown stripe, and a heavy gray bill. The back is grayish-green, and the wing and forked tail are brown. The throat is pale gray, becoming olive on the breast, with the rest of the underparts being yellow. The sexes are similar, but young birds have pale buff edges on the wing coverts. Tropical Kingbirds appear to be monogamous. In most parts of the species' range, they are permanent residents and remain together in pairs year-round.(Sibley 2014) The call is a high-pitched twittering trill, tree-e-e-e-e-e-e, with a more complex version sung by the male at dawn. Their breeding habitat is semi-open areas with trees and shrubs, including gardens and roadsides. Tropical kingbirds like to observe their surroundings from a prominent open perch, usually high in a tree, undertaking long flights to acrobatically catch insects in mid-air (hawking), sometimes hovering to pick food off vegetation (gleaning). They also eat some fruit from such diverse species as tamanqueiro (Alchornea glandulosa), the Annonaceae, Cymbopetalum mayanum and gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba); foraging for these even in disturbed habitat. As they keep mainly to the upper levels of trees, they find little profit in following mixed-species feeding flocks in the understory. These birds aggressively defend their territory against intruders, even much larger birds such as magnificent frigatebirds, toucans, caracaras or hawks. In a study in Parque Nacional de La Macarena of Colombia, parasitism by microfilariae and trypanosomas (presumably T. everetti) was infrequently recorded in tropical kingbirds. The male and female inspect potential sites together before selecting a site, typically a fork or crotch high in a tree (up to 66 feet high) but sometimes just a few feet above water.(Sibley 2014) The female builds a bulky, sloppy-looking, shallow nest of vines, rootlets, twigs, weeds, and grasses; it is unlined or lined with hair. Nests average about 5.2 inches across and 3 inches tall, with interior cup about 3 inches across and 1.6 inches deep. The female incubates the typical clutch of two to four eggs for approximately 16 days, and the nestlings fledge in another 18 or 19 days. The eggs are whitish or pale pink with variable amounts of dark blotching. The tropical kingbird is one of the most widespread and conspicuous inhabitants of open forest, forest edge, scrub and agricultural land from the southwestern United States south to Argentina (Jahn, Stouffer, & Chesser, 2013). As a result, the bird is considered as being of Least Concern and their population is increasing, according to the IUCN. According to Partners in Flight, global estimates of tropical kingbird breeding population is around 200 million. They rate the species as 4 out of 20 on the continental concern scale, indicating that this species is of low conservation concern.


10. Yellow Tyrannulet
The yellow tyrannulet is 10.5-11.4 cm long, weighs 8 g, and with its slender build and small bill resembles a tiny vireo or warbler. Its upperparts are olive-green and the underparts are bright yellow. The head has whitish or pale yellow supercilia. The wings and tail are dusky brown with weak yellow feather-edging, and there are two yellowish wing bars. Sexes are similar, but young birds are browner above and paler yellow below. The call is a soft pewik and the duetted song is a rhythmic pee-tic-keek. There is some geographical variation in both appearance and vocalisation.


11. Masked Water Tyrant
The masked water tyrant (Fluvicola nengeta) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers, one of three in the genus Fluvicola.


12. Rufous-browed Peppershrike
The rufous-browed peppershrike (Cyclarhis gujanensis) is a passerine bird in the vireo family. It is widespread and often common in woodland, forest edge, and cultivation with some tall trees from Mexico and Trinidad south to Argentina and Uruguay. The adult rufous-browed peppershrike is approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) long and weighs 28 g (0.99 oz). It is bull-headed with a thick, somewhat shrike-like bill, which typically is blackish below and pinkish-grey above. The head is grey with a strong rufous eyebrow. The crown is often tinged with brown. The upperparts are green, and the yellow throat and breast shade into a white belly. The subspecies ochrocephala from the south-eastern part of its range has a shorter rufous eyebrow and a brown-tinged crown, while the subspecies virenticeps, contrerasi and saturata from north-western Peru and western Ecuador have greenish-yellow (not grey, as in the "typical" subspecies) nape, auriculars and cheeks. The song is a whistled phrase with the rhythm "Do you wash every week?", but there are extensive variations depending on both individual and range. It is often heard but hard to see as it feeds on insects and spiders high in the foliage, though it has been observed to take small lizards as well. The nest is a flimsy cup high in a tree with a typical clutch of two or three pinkish-white eggs lightly blotched with brown. Like most vireos, the peppershrike ejects parasitic cowbird eggs.


13. Roadside Hawk
The roadside hawk is 31–41 cm (12–16 in) long and weighs 250–300 g (8.8–10.6 oz). Males are about 20% smaller than females, but otherwise the sexes are similar. In most subspecies, the lower breast and underparts are barred brown and white, and the tail has four or five grey bars. Twelve subspecies are usually recognised and there is significant plumage variation between these. Depending on the subspecies involved, the roadside hawk is mainly brown or grey. It is fairly common to observe a touch of rufous (i.e., a light reddish-brown) on the bird's wings, especially when seen in flight. Its call is a very high-pitched piercing squeak. The eyes of adult roadside hawks are whitish or yellow. As suggested by its specific name (magni = large; rostri = beak), its beak is relatively large. The roadside hawk may be marginally the smallest hawk in the widespread genus Buteo, although Ridgway's hawk and the white-rumped hawk are scarcely larger. In flight, the relatively long tail and disproportionately short wings of the roadside hawk are distinctive. It frequently soars, but does not hover.


14. Ecuadorian Thrush
The Ecuadorian thrush is 21.5 – 23 cm long. It is plain olive-brown above (paler than bare-eyed) and a paler brown below. The throat is brown-streaked off-white, and the lower belly is whitish. It has a narrow yellow eye ring. Sexes are similar, but young birds are flecked above and spotted below. There are no subspecies.


15. Olive-crowned Yellowthroat
The olive-crowned yellowthroat (Geothlypis semiflava) is a species of bird in the family Parulidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland and heavily degraded former forest.


16. Bananaquit
The bananaquit is a common bird found in tropical forests, woodlands, and home gardens where they primarily feed on nectar and fruit. There are over 40 known subspecies endemic to specific regions with noticeable differences in appearance. The exact taxonomic placement of Coereba flaveola is a subject of much debate among ornithologists, with some suggesting it should be split into at least three different species.

17. Slate-throated Redstart
The slate-throated whitestart is a long-tailed warbler measuring 12 cm (4.7 in) long. It has a deep rufous head, dark back, and contrasting bright yellow breast, belly and white vent and tail tips. The bill is black, and the legs are blackish-gray. While most of its plumage changes little throughout its large range, the underparts grade from yellow in most of its range, to red in the northernmost part.


18. Buff-throated Saltator
The buff-throated saltator (Saltator maximus) is a seed-eating bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It breeds from southeastern Mexico to western Ecuador and northeastern Brazil. The buff-throated saltator is on average 20 cm (7.9 in) long and weighs 42–52 g (1.5–1.8 oz). The adult has a slate-grey head with a white supercilium and a greenish crown. The upperparts are olive green, the underparts are grey becoming buff on the lower belly, and the throat is buff, edged with black. The thick convex bill and legs are black. Young birds are duller, and have a white-mottled blackish throat and breast, and brown markings on the lower underparts. The common call is a high seeeer. Males duet melodiously with a warbled cheery cheery answered by cheery to you. This is a species of dense vegetation. The buff-throated saltator feeds on fruit (e.g. of Cymbopetalum mayanum (Annonaceae), Trophis racemosa (Moraceae), and gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba)), buds, nectar and slow-moving insects. It forages at low and mid levels, sometimes with mixed species flocks. The two pale blue eggs per clutch measure some 22–32 mm (0.87–1.26 in) long by about 16.5–21.5 mm (0.65–0.85 in) wide and weigh about 4.8–6.1 g (0.17–0.22 oz) each, which is large among Saltator eggs. They are laid in a bulky cup nest up to 2 m (6.6 ft) high in a tree or bush.


19. Slaty Spinetail
The slaty spinetail or slaty castlebuilder, (Synallaxis brachyura), is a passerine bird which breeds in the tropical New World from northern Honduras to western Ecuador and east-central Brazil. It is a member of the South American bird family Furnariidae, a group in which many species build elaborate clay nests, giving rise to the English name for the family of "ovenbirds". However, the slaty spinetail constructs a bulky spherical stick nest 36x43 cm in size, with a long tubular entrance, 0.4–4.5 m high in a shrub or vine covered tree. It lays two or three greenish white eggs. This species is a widespread and common resident breeder in lowlands and up to 1500 m altitude in a range of scrubby habitats, including second growth, road and river edges, and overgrown pasture. The slaty spinetail is typically 15 cm long, and weighs 18.5 g. It is a slender bird with a long, pointed wispy tail. The plumage is mainly dark grey-brown becoming dark grey on the head. The crown and shoulder patches are rich rufous. Sexes are similar, but young birds are duller and browner with a yellowish chin. The slaty spinetail is an insectivore which is difficult to see as it forages for beetles, caterpillars and other prey deep in tangled thickets, but may be located by its hard chu-chu-chrrrr call.


20. Boat-billed Flycatcher
Adult boat-billed flycatchers are one of the largest species of tyrant flycatcher, measuring 23 cm (9.1 in) long and weighing 70 g (2.5 oz). The head is black with a strong white eyestripe and a concealed yellow crown stripe. The upperparts are olive-brown, and the wings and tail are brown with only faint rufous fringes. The underparts are yellow and the throat is white. The massive black bill, which gives this species its English and generic names, is the best distinction from the similar great kiskadee, which also has more rufous tail and wings, and lacks the olive tone to the upperparts. The call is a strident trilled nya, nya, nya.
