Site Report: Cerro de Arcos

Visits

• 2025-07-15: The next morning, we got an early start to the top of Cerro de Arcos. This is the only place to see the Blue-throated Hillstar. I thought we were getting a bit of a late start, but we actually saw the hummingbird fly past within minutes of arriving in the area. Looking for a better view, the guide walked up and downhill in high winds playing tapes of the hummingbird call. I was not really on board with this, but I have not had good outcomes asking people to tone down the tape. Anyway, it seemed to me that a better idea would be to stake out the hummingbird's food source. We walked around for a couple of hours before lunch, and then we walked around for a couple of hours after lunch. There was brutal sun and wind the whole time. Just as we were about to leave, one of the residents of the refuge suggested to stake out a spot where she had often seen the hummingbird. After a short wait, the male hummingbird perched in a spot very close to us proving that the playback was a waste of time.

Species Seen

Lifelists

• Ecuador
• South America
• World

Trips

• Southern Ecuador