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BIRDING & THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN PERU
April 19, 2024
The entire westside of Peru is flanked by 3080 km of Pacific Ocean and is home to many species of shore birds, pelagic birds, and is visited by many migratory birds. There are many interesting birding spots at the Peruvian coast. In this blog, we will explore some of these birding spots close to Lima and highlight some of the many fascinating bird species that can be found here. We start with some interesting facts about the Pacific Ocean and bird migration. Further in the blog we will even talk about bird poo… Read along if you would like to know why.
The Pacific Ocean was born 190 million years ago, when the crusty tectonic earth plates rearranged themselves and created the largest and deepest of the five oceans on earth. The Pacific Ocean covers almost half of the all the water surface on earth and about 32% of the planet’s total surface. Which means that if you could put all of Earth’s landmasses together, the Pacific Ocean would still be larger.
The name Pacific Ocean was given by the Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães (Ferdinand Magellan) in 1521. Magalhães led a Spanish expedition in order to find a maritime trade route from Europe to the East Indies, by crossing the Pacific Ocean. During this expedition, that started in 1519, he “discovered” a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Southern Chile. This passage though, was already known and navigated for thousands of years by canoe-faring Indigenous Peoples. The passage is now called Strait of Magellan and is considered the most important natural passage between the two oceans.
When Magellan crossed the 570 km. long passage and arrived at the Pacific Ocean, he encountered a “calm sea with favorable winds”. Especially in comparison with the tempestuous weather conditions on Atlantic Ocean, that already had devoured one of the five ships of his fleet. He called the ocean Mar Pacífico, which means “peaceful sea” in Portuguese and Spanish. But looks can be deceiving, for the Pacific Ocean is known to stir up some of the strongest hurricanes ever seen. And besides the hurricanes, the Pacific Basin is called the Ring of Fire because of the earthquakes and volcanic activity around its edges.
The average depth of the Pacific Ocean is 4000 meters (13,000 feet). The Mariana Trench, located in the northwestern Pacific, is the deepest known point of the Earth, with a depth of 10,928 meters (35,853 feet). That is deeper than the highest mountain on Earth, the Mount Everest, with an altitude of 8,840 m (29,003 ft). It is fascinating to realize that there is a whole world underneath the surface of the ocean…
Humboldt Current
Worth mentioning is the Humboldt Current and that is where it gets, bird wise, very interesting. This current, named after the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, is a cold ocean current that flows from southern Chile north, in the direction of the equator. On its way north, the cold upwelling water current (around 16 °C) meet with the warm tropical water current (around 25 °C). The circulation and movement of the currents are caused by strong trade winds that are always blowing towards the equator. From the northeast in the northern hemisphere and from the southeast in the southern hemisphere. The southeastern trade wind is the reason why the Humboldt Current is cold. It causes the cold Antarctic waters to rise to the surface and displace the warm and nutrient poor surface water. The upwelling cold and rich water brings nutrients to the surface, which are eaten by zooplankton and phytoplankton. Plankton on its turn is food for many sea animals. The richness in nutrition makes the Humboldt Current a very important and productive ecosystem with a high diversity in species of fish (Sardines, Jack Mackerel, Anchovies etc.), marine mammals (sea lions, seals, whales, dolphins etc.), crustaceans, and many sea birds.
The Humboldt has a cooling effect on the climate at the coast of Chile, Peru, and Ecuador. It is also largely responsible for the aridity of the coastal desert of Peru and the Atacama Desert in Chile. The marine air is cooled by the current and this disables tiny water droplets to transform into rain, only into fog and clouds. The cool air is blocked by the Andes mountains, which create very stable atmospheric conditions along the coastal deserts.
The Humboldt Current’s ecosystem is strongly affected by climate phenomenon El Niño. It occurs when the trade winds are weaker than that they normally are. El Niño can last 9 to 12 months (sometimes even for years) and occurs every two to seven years. El Niño causes a decline in nutrients in the Humboldt Current, that plankton needs to survive. Less plankton means less food for all the species within this ecosystem. Most species that are affected by an El Niño episode, manage to recover afterwards. Climate change however, is a serious threat. It is a topic of ongoing scientific research, but recent studies suggest that global heating may be leading to stronger El Niño events.
Thanks to the Humboldt Current, there are innumerable amounts of birds at the Peruvian coast, which makes it a fantastic place for birding.
Bird Migration
During certain months it is possible to see migratory birds from North America (between the North American fall and spring) on the shores and in wetlands of Peru’s coast. Migration is one of the most fascinating aspects of birds. Twice per year, billions of birds are travelling long distances across the globe. Many species migrate along ‘fixed flyways’ from their breeding grounds to non-breeding areas, often over distances of thousands of kilometers. The Pacific Flyway is one of the three migration routes in the Americas. This flyway goes from the high arctic, all the way south along the Pacific coast, to the southernmost tip of the South American continent. Not all the migratory species go as far south, all along the flyway they have their preferred places to stay.
The reason why birds migrate is mainly that, as winter approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, the availability of insects and other food drops drastically. Birds have to fly to the warmer south, in order to find food. How their navigation skills work, is not yet fully understood. Birds can use preferred routes with fixed stopover locations to eat and rest. It is thought that they get compass information from the sun, stars, and by sensing the earth’s magnetic field. Migration can be triggered by a combination of changes: in day length, in lower temperatures, in food supplies, and by the fact that birds are “genetically wired” to migrate. Amazingly, first-year birds often make their first migration on their own…
Around the world, there are nine major flyways. Peru is part of the Pacific Flyway that is used by large numbers of migratory aquatic and land birds from the Northern Hemisphere. We will talk about the migratory birds that visit the Peruvian coast, further down the blog.
Migration not only happens from north to south, as there are also birds that migrate from their breeding grounds in southern South America (Chile and Argentina) north, when the austral winter sets in (from April to October).
Other birds migrate vertically, from the high Andean wetlands to the lowlands and coastal areas during the winter. This is the dry season in the high Andes and food during these months is scare.
These dramatic long-distance migrations require a lot of determination and endurance. Birds are depending on good weather conditions, food sources, and resting places during migration. Unfortunately, the circumstances are getting more and more difficult, due to our human footprint. Habitat destruction, deforestation, agriculture, pollution, collision risk with man-made structures such as powerlines and wind turbines, are just a few of the threats that migratory birds encounter. In the coastal wetlands along the Pacific Flyway, fish and shrimp farming, expanding urban areas, and catastrophic oil spills are major threats, not only for migratory birds, but for resident birds and other wildlife as well.
Another growing threat that affects bird migration is climate change. Changes in weather patterns, including the frequency and severity of storms, changes in vegetation and timing of seasonal peaks of insects, rising of the sea level for low-lying coastal wetlands, are just of few of threats.
Villa Marshes
The first interesting birding spot that we will explore in this blog is Pantanos de Villa or the Villa Marshes in Lima. These 263.27 hectares wetlands are composed of brackish water lagoons, islands, channels, Totora Reed beds, salt marshes and grasslands. In 1989, the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture declared the area as a wildlife reserve. Pantanos de Villa is the only protected area inside the urban space of Peru’s capital city Lima. It is a very nice place to escape the hectic city and it is a great birding spot.
There are around 210 species of birds recorded in the Villa Marshes, of which 70 % are migratory species. The marshes are one of the most important places for feeding and shelter for migratory birds. There are birds coming from the Nearctic Region of North America (from September to March), the Austral Region of southern South America (from April to August), and the Peruvian high Andes (from April to August). The Pacific Flyway species that visit the marshes are the Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Blue-winged Teal, Upland Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Peregrine Falcon, Barn Swallow, Laughing Gull, Osprey, Sora, Bank Swallow, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs. Birds that arrive from the Andes in the Villa marshes are the Chilean Flamingo, Andean Gull, and the Puna Ibis. Other bird species that can be found in the marshes are the Many-colored Rush Tyrant, Peruvian Thick-knee, Peruvian Meadowlark, Least Bittern, Great Grebe, Belcher’s Gull, Peruvian Pelican, Peruvian Booby.
San Lorenzo Island
San Lorenzo is another interesting birding spot close to Lima. It is the largest island of the Peruvian coast, measuring 8 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide. The island, situated close to the port city Callao, has never been inhabited as there are no fresh water sources. But the island has always been visited by humans, first by ancient Pre-Colombian cultures who used it as a cemetery, later by the Peruvian navy, and it has been used as a prison for Shining Path participants.
San Lorenzo island and the surrounding smaller islands Cavinzas and Palomino, are home to a colony of thousands of South American Sea Lions. The islands can be visited by boat. There are several interesting bird species to be observed on and around the islands, like the Humboldt Penguin, Red-legged Cormorant, Peruvian Booby, Peruvian Pelican, Guanay Cormorant, Inca Tern, Blackish Oystercatcher, and the endemic Surf Cinclodes. According to the season we can also find some migratory species such as the Surfbird, Ruddy Turnstone, Whimbrel, Royal Tern, and Elegant Tern.
Whimbrel
Whimbrels are the true champions of the Pacific Flyway. They fly every year 18.500 miles (29772.864 km.) from Alaska to Chile and back again. Apart from being able to travel such huge distances, Whimbrels are also champions in switching their diets. On their breeding grounds in Alaska, they feed on berries, lichens, and mosses, but once they move to muddy coastal wetlands during the migration, they become expert hunters of crabs and other crustaceans.
Surf Cinclodes
The endemic Surf Cinclodes spends most of its life at the interface of land and water, foraging on rocks at the surf zone, hence its name. It is never far away from where the ocean waves roll over the beaches or rocks. They are described as “almost certainly the most maritime of all passerine birds”. Although the Surf Cinclodes is widely distributed along the coast of Peru, almost nothing is known about its nature. For example, the extent to which the Surf Cinclodes has physiological features to cope with high salinity is not known. Almost all the marine birds have salt glands to get rid of the excess of salt ingested with food and sea water, but the Surf Cinclodes doesn’t have this gland. There is still an ocean of knowledge to uncover about this bird, as about many other bird species in Peru (and elsewhere). To observe the Surf Cinclodes, is a bit like a game of a hide-and-seek. It appears and disappears in an instant, while looking for food on the rocks. It also blends very well into the rocks with its brown feather coat. It is an interesting and nice bird.
Pucusana
The fishing village of Pucusana, located about 60 km south of Lima, is the next interesting birding spot. Pucusana is located inside a small cove and protected by the island Isla Chuncho. From the port we will embark on a boat to navigate the waters around the island and have goods views of species like the Red-legged Cormorant, Inca Tern, Blue-footed Booby, Blackish Oystercatcher, the endemic Peruvian Diving-Petrel, Humboldt Penguin.
When we go a bit further onto sea, leaving the island behind us, interesting pelagic species can be observed. These species spend a large part of their life above the sea and can remain in flight for many days in a row. Pelagic birds that we can see here are the Markham’s Storm-Petrel, Ringed Storm-Petrel, Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, Southern Giant-Petrel, White-chinned Petrel, Peruvian Booby, Guanay Cormorant, Sooty Shearwater, Pink-footed Shearwater, Swallow-tailed Gull, Sabine’s Gull, Chilean Skua, Parasite Jaeger, Red-necked Phalarope, Waved Albatross, Buller’s Albatross, Black-browed Albatross.
It is also possible to see Common Dolphins, Dusky Dolphins, and Bottle Nosed Dolphins, as well as Humpback Whales between the months of July to October.
Inca Tern
This very pretty tern is a resident species of the Pacific coast from north central Chile to Ecuador and is most abundant in Peru. Its name is appropriate since the great Inca Empire reached all the way from Chile to Colombia. The Inca Tern has a charcoal grey body and a bright red bill and legs. Its most distinctive feature are the white moustaches that are curling down from the base of the bill around the cheek. Inca Terns forage for anchoveta fish at sea and spend most of the time at rocky coasts where they breed on sea cliffs and guano islands. We will come back to guano islands later in this blog. The Inca terns can be seen in big flocks that number up to thousands. The terns follow sea lions at sea, so that they can eat left-overs from sea lion meals. The Inca Tern population fluctuate from year to year, depending on food availability in relation to El Niño. When El Niño occurs, the Inca tern population can decline drastically, but is luckily able to recover quickly. Their status is Near Threatened.
Humboldt Penguin
Another interesting bird that lives at the San Lorenzo Island, is the Humboldt Penguin. This medium-sized penguin breeds at the coasts of Peru and Chile. It looks a lot like its cousin, the Magellanic Penguin, that lives in central Chile and Argentina, but the Humboldt Penguin has larger fleshy parts at the base of the bill. Pairs nest in small colonies on islands and on rocky coasts, especially in areas with cliffs and sea caves. They favor islands with guano, in which they make their nest burrows. Humboldt Penguins stay with the same partner for life and each penguin has a unique vocal sound and scent to enable the partner to pick them out from the penguin crowd. They feed mostly on schooling fish and squid in the Humboldt Current. With the spines on their tongue, they can hold their prey. The penguins possess salt-excreting glands to get rid of the salt ingested during feeding. Their conservation status is vulnerable, because the species is threatened by various human activities, including commercial fishing, hunting, but also by El Niño. It is a delight to see and especially hear these funny birds, with their loud hooter voices.
Paracas
Following the Pan-Americana Highway south, we find our next birding hotspot: the beautiful Paracas National Reserve (335,000 hectares – about 200,000 hectares in the Pacific Ocean). It is situated close to the towns of Pisco and Paracas, in the department Ica. The reserve was created in 1975 to conserve the vulnerable coastal marine ecosystem and biological diversity, as well as to protect the archaeological sites at the peninsula. The Paracas Peninsula is considered to have one of the richest ecosystems in the world, due to the Humboldt Current. It is home to many bird, mammal, fish, and other aquatic species.
The reserve can be visited by car, there are several roads to different parts of the peninsula. The vast desert landscape in all shades of yellow, orange, and brown, contrast beautifully with the dark green ocean. The meaning of the name Paracas in Quechua is very suiting: Rain of Sand.
Long before the Inca appeared on the stage, the Paracas region was already inhabited by an Andean culture that is known today as the Paracas culture (approximately between 800 BCE and 100 BCE). They had an extensive knowledge of irrigation and water management, and their textiles and embroideries are considered to be some of the finest ever produced by a Pre-Columbian Andean society. Most of the information about the lives of the Paracas people, we know from excavations at the large seaside site on the Paracas Peninsula. At the reserve is an interesting archaeological museum about the Paracas culture, its building blending in beautifully with the neighboring red dunes.
Marine mammals that live in the reserve are, among others, South American Sea Lions, South American Fur Seals, Bottlenose Dolphins, Dusky Dolphins, and the migratory Humpback Whales between the months of July to October.
There are many interesting bird species in the Paracas Reserve, like the Brown Pelican, Guanay Cormorant, Black Skimmer, Red-legged Cormorant, Chilean Flamingo, Surf Cinclodes, Surfbird, Peruvian Tern, Inca Tern, Gray Gull, Gray-hooded Gull, Peruvian Booby.
The reserve is also an important stopover on the migratory route for many birds, as well as for four species of sea turtles: the Leatherback Turtle, Hawksbill Turtle, Green Turtle, and the Parrot Beak. Migratory bird species that can be found here include the Black-bellied Plover, Whimbrel, Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Sanderling, Laughing Gull, Franklin’s Gull, Elegant Tern, Royal Tern, Common Tern.
Western Sandpiper
The Western Sandpiper is one of the most abundant shorebirds in the Western Hemisphere, despite its restricted breeding area in the coastal tundra regions of western Alaska and far-eastern Siberia. Most of the global population spends the boreal winter in coastal bays and estuaries along the Pacific coast of the Americas, between British Columbia and Peru. Flocks of Western Sandpipers can be impressively big, sometimes exceeding 100,000 birds. Sandpiper toes are adapted for walking and running when they are foraging for small crustaceans in the muddy parts of lagoons, estuaries, and beaches during the migration season. In the breeding season, they find their food, mainly insects, at the tundra and wet grasslands.
Islas Ballestas
At the small port of Paracas, we will embark on boat tour to visit a group of islands called Islas Ballestas. These islands consist of rock formations, where an important marine fauna can be found. It is a 30-mintute boat ride to the island, with changes to see dolphins, sea lions, and birds along the way. We will float around the islands with beautiful see-throughs in the rock formations, like bridges. Interesting bird species that we can see, are the Humboldt Penguin, Peruvian Booby, Red-legged Cormorant, Guanay Cormorant, Royal Tern, Inca Tern, Sooty Shearwater, Peruvian Pelican.
Guano
The Ballestas Islands, like other islands at Peru’s coast, are known as guano islands. Guano is poo from marine birds. It is a very effective agricultural fertilizer and already used for this purpose by Pre-Columbian cultures, including the Inca. According to biologists, it is no coincidence that the habitat range of the typical guano birds, the Peruvian Pelican, Peruvian Booby, and Guanay Cormorant, correlates with the boundaries of the Inca Empire. The Inca had a symbiotic relationship with these birds and the reason for this, was their poo. The bird droppings appeared to be an incredibly effective fertilizer because of the high amount of nitrogen, which was already discovered by pre-Inca cultures, like the Mochica. The Inca called it guano, or wánu, meaning fertilizer in their language Quechua.
The Inca developed a guano management with strict rules on hunting the birds and on how and when people could access the islands with nesting birds to collect guano. There were severe punishments for anyone who broke the law. The penalty for killing a guano bird, or disturb it on the nest, was death. Outside of the breeding season, the Inca collected guano and transported it on llamas into the Andes. The guano went as far as Machu Picchu, more than 600 miles away from the birds’ coastal homes. Guano fertilization allowed the Inca empire to produce a lot of food that was stored in warehouses and could last up to seven years. Food security was one of the reasons that made the Inca Empire so successful. The Inca even had a goddess who was known as “The Lady of Guano.” Her name was Urpi Huachac and she was the creator and mother of the birds and fishes.
The guano birds were so important for the Inca, that it could be said that they were the earliest bird conservationists. The strict Inca rules protected the birds and could have helped them expand their habitat range. Peruvian Pelicans for example, have small genetic differences across its habitat range. This suggests that the pelicans had expanded their range relatively recently.
When the Spanish colonizers arrived in Peru in the 15th century, they did not yet understand the value of guano. The first shipments of guano reached Spain in the 1700. This changed in the early 19th century, when the United States and Europe declared guano to be the finest fertilizer in the world. The demand for South American guano skyrocketed. Guano is rich in nitrogen and 30 times more effective than cow manure. The Guano extraction in 19th century is a dark page in history, as it caused wars the between countries that wanted to benefit from it. The enslaved people who had to collect the guano, lived in terrible conditions. There were also no laws to protect the birds. The guano layers, once meters thick in the Inca times, diminished rapidly due to human greed.
Even today, guano is a highly appreciated product, especially in organic farming. Its collection is now regulated by the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture. Guano collection takes place every 7 or 8 years. Thanks to the fact that it never rains at Peruvian coast, the guano cannot be not washed away.
We will see the white layers of guano and the extraction places from the boat, when we visit the Islas Ballestas.
El Candelabro
On the way to the Ballestas islands, we will have a taste of ancient culture as well. We will be able to see the impressive El Candelabro, a pre-Columbian geoglyph in the shape of a chandelier or trident. Its lines are engraved in the rocky side of a hill of the Paracas Peninsula and it measures almost 183 meters high. The constant wind keeps the glyph lines clean of sand.
It is believed that the Candelabro belongs to the Paracas culture and is around 2500 years old. Its meaning is a mystery, but there are many speculations. It could have been an orientation sign for sailors, as it is associated with the Constellation of the Southern Cross, also known as the Navigators’ Cross. It could also represent a lightning rod of the god Viracocha, an important figure in indigenous mythology of Pre-Colombian cultures. Whatever its meaning may have been, it is very impressive and beautiful to see.
These are just a few of many interesting birding spots at the vast Peruvian coast. The places mentioned in this blog, are situated close to Lima and can be visited in one day (from Lima), Paracas in two days. Our birding tours can be extended with visits to these birding spots. It is also possible to design your own birding tour together with us, depending on your wishes. Like a Peruvian shore bird tour, for example, to many great birding spots all along the Peruvian coast. Get in contact with us to talk about the possibilities.
Written by Eva Wu – Photos: Steve Sanchez & Eva Wu
References:
Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Pacific Flyway
Bird migration
Villa Marshes Lima
Guano
Inca and Guano
Birds of the World
Wikipedia
Kuntur Nature and Adventure EIRL
Company Address: Av. Industrial Conj. Hab. FOVIPOL. Nr 104 – Santiago – Cusco – Peru
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