While Peru is renowned, and rightfully so, for its incredible history and archaeological sites, the country offers much more. My trip to Peru wasn't specifically focused on birdwatching. Rather, I took advantage of a few mornings to squeeze in some time for it.

In the Lima area (far left of the map), I spent one morning birdwatching. Guided by a local bird guide, we first visited Los Pantanos de Villa, a coastal wetland park, and then headed out to sea from Pucusana. The former location hosted numerous gulls, ducks, and shorebirds. At the latter, Inca Terns, various cormorants and Humboldt Penguins were spotted.

Most of my birdwatching in the Cusco region (middle) was also concentrated in one morning. I spent four hours circling the Humedal Lucre-Huacarpay wetland, an Andean wetland situated at an altitude of 3,000 meters and an hour’s drive from Cusco. The birds here are typical of the lower altitudes of the Andes mountain range. The Andean landscape was stunning, and the birdwatching no less productive. Memorable sightings included the Andean Duck, Andean Lapwing, Rusty-fronted Canastero, and Mountain Caracara. Afterwards, I visited a nearby hummingbird garden, where I saw the Bearded Mountaineer, one of the country’s endemic and highlight species. Later, an afternoon stroll by a river near Machu Picchu yielded the a family of Torrent Ducks, a South American highlight I longed to see.

In the Amazon region (to the far right), the journey started with a flight to Puerto Maldonado, followed by a boat trip along the river to a nearby lodge. While birdwatching here was part of the lodge's scheduled activities, the lodge was more of an Amazon-experience lodge than one specifically for birdwatching, so rather few birds were spotted. I stayed at the lodge for two full days but only saw about thirty species, which were all new to me since it was my first trip to the Amazon. The most birds were seen on the first day at Lake Sandoval, with fewer on subsequent days. One evening, a friend and I spotted an Andean Motmot within the lodge grounds, which was particularly stunning. Judging from the bird calls heard on my walk to Lake Sandoval that morning, it seemed that seeing more than a hundred species in a day in the Peruvian Amazon is not out of the question. Unfortunately, there was no opportunity this time.

In comparison, the mornings in Lima and Cusco were very productive, with each yielding around forty to fifty species. The 114 species I saw during the limited time spent birdwatching in the country owed much to visiting three completely different ecosystems: coast, high mountains, and rainforest. There is very little overlap in bird species across these three regions. I am aware of more popular and productive birding spots in Peru, like Manu national Park, which I didn't have a chance to visit this time. Seeing 114 species marks only a glimpse at the country’s unbelieveble avian diversity and abundance, I hope to return in the near future for a dedicated birdwatching trip.