The Santa Eulalia basin is located east of the Lima city after Chosica and has well-preserved mountain ecosystems that are home to a large number of endemic and restricted birds. This article is about an expedition conducted by Alex Gimenez and Ikam Expeditions team to observe the main birds of Santa Eulalia and their associated ecosystems.
Santa Eulalia basin
To reach the Santa Eulalia basin, the access is through the central highway to Chosica, then take the exit to Santa Eulalia, from where the search for birds begins. The expedition from Santa Eulalia starts at 1,200 meters above sea level and reaches the highest point at 4,900 meters above sea level.
The ecosystems according to the Map of ecosystems of Peru (MINAM, 2019), present in the area are:
- Periglacial and glacial zone.
- Jalca
- High Andean relict forest
- Meso-Andean relict forest
- Inter-Andean seasonally dry forest
- Andean scrubland
Santa Eulalia Birding Expeditions
Birds of Santa Eulalia
Species of interest in the area are: Black-necked Woodpecker (E), Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant, Golden Grosbeak, Andean Condor, Mountain Parakeet, Rusty-bellied Brushfinch (E), Great Inca-Finch (E), Rufous-breasted Warbling Finch (E), Bare-faced Ground Dove, Rufous-chested Tanager, White-capped Dipper, Black Metaltail (E), Rusty-crowned Tit-Spinetail (E), Andean Swift, Mourning Sierra Finch, White-cheeked Cotinga (E), Giant Hummingbird, Andean Tit-Spinetail, Stripe-headed Antpitta, Black-breasted Hillstar (E), Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Olivaceous Thornbill, White-winged Cinclodes (E), Bright-rumped Yellow-Finch, Black Siskin, Striated Earthcreeper (E), Puna Tinamou, Puna Snipe and Junín Canastero.
List of registered birds in birding expedition
(1) Valle de Santa Eulalia – Huinco (2) Valle de Santa Eulalia – Valle Superior
(3) Valle de Santa Eulalia – Superior (4) Valle de Santa Eulalia – Quebrada Yanac
(5) Laguna Milloc (6) Pampa Curicocha
The good and the bad things
- The good thing is definitely the different ecosystems, the highland landscapes and the birds specialized to those ecosystems. In that sense, the area is presented as a recreational alternative for short trips for citizens of metropolitan Lima, not only for bird watching, which is definitely a good option, but also to visit spectacular landscapes of the Andes.
- The negative side is the predation that can be observed in some ecosystems. In particular, we identified the extraction of vegetation cover from the wetlands, which is the habitat of species specialized to this ecosystem, such as the Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Puna Snipe, White-cheeked Cotinga, among others. We were also able to observe contamination generated by solid waste along the road.
