Peru is about as near as a birder will get to paradise. However, its not just the birder, in our experience, that is overcome by the incredible diversity of the birds in Peru - we have seen many casual visitors transfixed by the incredible array of colour, shape and size.

In short - Peru is the best place in the world to see birds. There are some 1800 species in the country, which is an astounding 18.5% of all species on the planet. The incredible diversity of terrain, environment and habitat is largely responsible. The Eastern flank of the Andes are the most diverse of all, with an astounding 1000 species within the Manu Biosphere reserve alone. As you drop down from the high Andes (home of the Andean Condor), through the cloudforests, so every few hundred metres brings new species. Here you see the resplendent Andean Cock-of-the-Rock and flocks of multicoloured Tanagers that look like they've flown straight out of a Disney movie. Below around 600m the pristine and unbroken lowland Amazon Rainforest is home to some of the most stunning of all birds, including the Scarlet Macaw and the Cuvier's Toucan. And of course there are Hummingbirds at all levels. The world record for the number of bird species observed in a day without motorised transport is 331 - and it was in Manu!

We found it particularly rewarding to go in search of birds at dawn (i.e. between around 5.30 and 7.30 am). By 9.00 it is typically far too hot for the birds. Every few metres would reveal new birds singing on perches, darting through the undergrowth or flying overhead. Our biggest problem was knowing where to look!

Books: Our bird "bible" throughout the trip was "A Field Guide to the Birds of Peru" by James F. Clements and Noam Shany. Whilst this is a (the only) comprehensive guide to the birds of Peru, it does suffer from some suspect colours that can be a little misleading, and also from a rather odd grouping of some of the birds. However - it is an invaluable and indispensable guide. Our advise is to take a copy in a plastic sleeve - and to carry it everywhere you go... You never know when you will see a bird (we had a Blue Throated Piping Guan appear out of nowhere, and decide to follow us on a half-hour walk!).

Additionally, we bought a copy of the new "Field Guide to the birds of Machu Picchu, Peru" by Barry Walker. Barry is an authority on Peruvian birds (he's seen over 1500 species), owner of Manu Expeditions, landlord for the Cross Keys Pub in Cusco, part owner for the Manu Wildlife Centre - and the British Consul to Cusco to boot. Its an excellent book with beautiful illustrations.

The Total: The total number of species we saw in Peru came to 224. Whilst this is not comparable with the totals achievable by "professional" birders dedicating every waking hour searching for birds across Peru (600 - 700 is not unusual in a 4 week trip), our list is from casual birding as part of a more complete holiday. That is not to say that we did not lift our binoculars to every bird that moved... There were a few that got away, notably a crested Oropendola and the various Quetzals - each of which had always been seen "just before you arrived...."

Our favourite birds from the trip are:

Paradise Tanager
Andean Cock of the Rock
Scarlet Macaw
Black Skimmer
Versicoloured Barbet
Collared Trogon
Agami Heron

The List: Here is our list of birds spotted and identified during the trip. The list includes sightings in and around Cusco (including the higher elevations up to Tambo Machay), the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and Manu from the entrance road, through the cloudforest and in the lowland Rainforests of the reserved zone, Boca Manu and the wonderful Manu Wildlife Centre. We are particularly grateful to our Manu guide, Jessica, for her invaluable assistance in identifying a great number of these.