Ecuador: The Best of Amazonia and Eastern Slope of the Andes
From the lush Amazonian rainforests to the high Andean páramos, Ecuador is indeed a special place, boasting good access to birding habitat, unsurpassed scenic splendor, friendly people, and a stable government. Incredibly, over 1,670 species of birds have been recorded in the country’s continental mainland. Among them are many of the most spectacular and distinctive Neotropical treasures. Through our back-to-back tours, The Best of Amazonia and Eastern Slope of the Andes, we offer an exceptional northern Ecuador birding and natural history extravaganza. The Best of Amazonia samples the splendid avifauna of the western Amazon Basin, featuring the amazing Napo Wildlife Center and the mega-biodiverse Yasuní National Park. Eastern Slope of the Andes explores the heart of the magnificent Ecuadorian Andes on its eastern slopes.
Please join VENT tour leader and Ecuador resident Paul Greenfield for the next installment in our webinar series, in which he’ll present an overview of these excellent tours. With Paul leading the way, we’ll enjoy an in-depth look at the magnificent Napo Wildlife Center and all that it offers: lovely accommodations, rainforest trails, blackwater streams and a placid forest lake, canopy towers, and more; and the cloud forest ecosystem of the Andes where highlights include staying at lodges at three distinct elevation zones observing a pageant of spectacular hummingbirds and tanagers among innumerable other tropical birds.
Join us June 29, 2023 at 11:00 am PDT / 12:00 pm MDT / 1:00 pm CDT / 2:00 pm EDT.
Victor holds a B.A. in zoology and botany from the University of Texas and an M.A. in government from Harvard. In 1993, he was the recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Excellence in Birding Award, given by the Houston Audubon Society in recognition of a lifetime of dedication to careful observation, education, and addition to the body of avian knowledge. In 2004, he received the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association, and the Arthur A. Allen Award from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
Victor is a past board member of the Nature Conservancy of Texas, the National Audubon Society, the American Bird Conservancy, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In May 2017, the University of Texas Press published his memoir, One More Warbler, A Life with Birds.
Paul is very involved in saving Ecuador’s avian diversity and important habitats through his involvement with various foundations, as well as working with local government and communities to encourage their involvement in the protection of “their” biodiversity and the promotion of birding tourism in Ecuador. He has been showing visitors the birds of this fascinating country for over two decades and has led many Ecuador bird tours. He and his wife, Martha, live in Quito.
