The Andes Mountains of Southern Ecuador are a highly complex system of mountain-ridges and valleys, providing a great variety of habitats within a small geographic area. For decades, birders have recognized the region’s rich biodiversity. Immerse and relax on this fun Christmas tour!
More details on this tour are coming soon. Thank you for your patience.
Tour Highlights
- Coming Soon!
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Steve Shunk
Steve Shunk started birding in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989, and he moved to central Oregon’s ‘Woodpecker Wonderland’ in 1997, where 11 woodpecker species breed annually. This phenomenon led to a 20-year obsession studying this charismatic family of birds. Steve founded the region’s woodpecker festival in 2008, and his Peterson Reference Guide to Woodpeckers of North America was published in 2016. He has fed leeches (his own blood) in Malaysian Borneo, and he has watched Spotless Starlings swarming around the Greek ruins of Sicily. Steve’s Alaska adventures have taken him from Ketchikan to Barrow and St. Paul Island. One of his favorite destinations takes him to see ‘eastern’ warblers breeding across the boreal forest of Alberta, but recent adventures have led him to favor the cushion plants and condors of the Peruvian high Andes. Steve speaks at bird festivals across North America, and he returns annually to speak and guide at the Vallarta Bird Festival in far-western Jalisco, Mexico. Steve joined Naturalist Journeys earlier this year, and we are excited to have him on the schedule for 2021 and beyond.
Steve’s work as a field biologist has taken him from the Coast Range of Oregon to California’s Sierra Nevada. Most recently, he conducted point-count and woodpecker surveys for a study in the Central Oregon Cascades. Steve co-founded the East Cascades Bird Conservancy (now East Cascades Audubon), and served as its first president. He also co-founded the Oregon Birding Trails Program and coordinated its flagship project, the Oregon Cascades Birding Trail. When Steve is not traveling the world for tours and lectures, he can be found writing, skiing, hiking, and watching woodpeckers at home in lovely Sisters, Oregon.Other trips with Steve Shunk
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Oregon's Woodpecker WonderlandMay 18 - 27, 2022 -
New Hampshire's Mt. Washington Warblers & Bicknell's ThrushJune 6 - 12, 2022 -
Oregon’s Cascade Mountains Great Birds & LodgesJuly 6 - 15, 2022 -
Oregon's Wallowa MountainsJuly 18 - 25, 2022 -
Washington: Coastal Birding & NatureAugust 18 - 25, 2022 -
Maine's Monhegan IslandSeptember 9 - 16, 2022 -
Maine's Monhegan IslandSeptember 17 - 24, 2022 -
Christmas in Costa Rica December 22 - 29, 2022 -
Washington Winter BirdingJanuary 22 - 28, 2023 -
Costa Rica: Monteverde & More Monteverde, Celeste Mountain & Caño NegroMarch 8 - 18, 2023, w/Sarapiquis extension -
Texas Hill Country Birding & Nature TourComing April 2023 -
Texas Coast & Big ThicketApril 14 - 22, 2023 -
Oregon's Woodpecker WonderlandMay 17 - 26, 2023
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Photo credits: Banners: Marketplace by Peg Abbott; Spectacled Bear, courtesy Neblina Forest; Jocotoco Antpitta by Carlos Sanchez; Choco Toucan by Peg Abbott; Dusky-headed Parakeets by Greg Smith; Yellow-rumped Cacique by Bud Ferguson; Sparkling Violetear by Peg Abbott; Coati by Carlos Sanchez; Gray Tinamou by Carlos Sanchez; Immature Tiger Heron, Naturalist Journeys Stock; Sunbittern, Naturalist Journeys Stock; Butterflies by Carlos Sanchez; Birding Ecuador by Woody Wheeler; Naturalist Journeys Group in Ecuador, Naturalist Journeys Stock; Spectacled Bear, courtesy of Neblina Forest; Grass-green Tanager, Peg Abbott; Chestnut-breasted Coronet, Naturalist Journeys Stock; Chestnut-crowned Antpitta, Greg Smith; Andean Potoo, Miguel Lezama, courtesy Neblina Forest; Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Miguel Lezama, courtesy Neblina Forest; Violet-headed Hummingbird, Peg Abbott; Torrent Duck, Peg Abbott; Choco Toucan, Peg Abbott; Coati, Carlos Sanchez; White-necked Jacobin, Sandy Sorkin; Butterflies, Carlos Sanchez; Slate-crowned Antpitta, Greg Smith; Green Honeycreeper, Naturalist Journeys Stock; Plumbeous Rail, Peg Abbott; Jocotoco Antpitta, Carlos Sanchez; Butterfly, Carlos Sanchez; Andean Scenic, courtesy Neblina Forest; Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, Naturalist Journeys Stock; Giant Hummingbird, Carlos Sanchez; Bromeliads, Naturalist Journeys Stock; Dos Chorreras Dining Room, courtesy hosteriadoschorreras.com; Jocotoco Antpitta, courtesy Neblina Forest; Green Honeycreeper, courtesy Neblina Forest; Violet-bellied Hummingbird, courtesy Neblina Forest; Green Thorntail, courtesy Neblina Forest; Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Ruth Guillemette; Cinnamon Flycatchers, Ruth Guillemette; Glistening-green Tanager, Ruth Guillemette; Golden-breasted Grosbeak, Ruth Guillemette; Red-headed Barbet, Ruth Guillemette; Rose-faced Parrot, Ruth Guillemette; Rufous Motmot, Ruth Guillemette; Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Ruth Guillemette; Scrub Tanager, Ruth Guillemette; Torquoise Jay, Ruth Guillemette.