Mindo is a 2-hour drive from Quito via the main highway. The Rio Mindo valley and nearest mountains have an elevational range between 1200-1600 meters. Mindo valley is subtropical forest and is ideally situated at mid-slope, between the upper temperate zone and the lower humid tropical forests.

Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan

" The Nono-Mindo Road and the area around the town of Mindo, just 84 km northwest of Quito, is one of the best birding sites in South America. Some 430 species have been recorded, including 370 around Mindo alone." p. 210, Where to Watch Birds in South America by Nigel Wheatley, 1995.

Mindo lies within the Chocó Endemic Bird Area (EBA) and Chocó Biogeographic Region, which is considered one of the world's richest biogeographic areas. This area "supports the largest number of restricted-range birds of any EBA in the Americas, over 50 species being endemic to the area...[and there is] relatively little known about the precise distributions, altitudinal movements and ecological requirements of the restricted-range birds..." p 202, Endemic Bird Areas of the World, 1998, BirdLife International.

Andean Cock-of-the-rock
by J. Fuhrman

Mindo is an area of historic ornithological studies, where early collectors and ornithologists discovered or collected many species (e.g., see Chapman 1926). Due to its critically important role in the conservation of numerous rare and endemic species, Mindo was designated South America's first Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International (1997).

Pacific Antwren, a recent split

The climate in the Mindo area is mild year-round. The main rainy season is April-May, although some rain is likely throughout the year. The sunniest months are July-October, the time of year considered summer.

Favorite birding months are September-January as many migrants are present in the Mindo area, as well as such local specialties as Yellow-collared Chlorophonia and Club-winged Manakin. However, many resident cloud forest species, such as antpittas, are more active and easier to see in the rainy season.

Common Potoo
at day roost

Our tours in the Mindo area encompass a range of elevations from 500-2300 meters, including the lowland zone of Pedro Vicente Maldonado and up to the zone of Bellavista, and, if your tour begins in Quito, including the area of Yanacocha Reserve at 4000 meters elevation and downslope along the famous old Nono-Mindo Road.

Over 30 Chocó endemic bird species are regularly found in a 4-5 day visit in the Mindo area, as well as several hundred other wider-ranging species.

Pacific Hornero by Hirokazu Fukuda	Yellow-collared Chlorophonia by M. Reid

In the Mindo-Bellavista-Tandayapa area, and depending on the exact itinerary, we stay at a variety of top quality lodges which cater to birders. Each lodge is new, with large private rooms with private baths, excellent meals, beautiful settings, and all the comforts of home.

Malaria, cholera and other tropical diseases have NOT been reported in the Mindo area.