The Cock of the Rock Adventure El gallito de las rocas aventura

Mindo Cloud Forest, Ecuador. For two days,  we took early morning hikes with our birding guide, Lucia, who pointed out numerous species of tanagers and other birds.

El bosque de nubes de mindo, Ecuador. Por dos dias, me esposa y yo tomamos temprano caminatas matutinos con nuestro guia de aves, Lucia, que mostramos muchas especies de tanajaras y otros aves.

After two days, Lucia told us about the Cock of the Rock. But before we could see  the bird, we needed to do the following:
4am Get out of bed
4:30am Cross the river on the trolley
4:45am  Take a taxi with Lucia
5:15 am Get dropped off on a dirt road in the jungle
5:20am  Three other taxis arrive  with 10 serious birderwatchers. We couldn’t believe it.
Shortly after 5:30 the owner showed up and opened the gate. The group hustled down to the bird blind and jostled for a viewing position. The blind fit around 6 people comfortably, but on this morning there were 13 people and many of them had huge cameras with 3 foot lenses.

Después de dos dias, Lucia nos dijimos de ‘el gallito de las rochas’. Pero antes de que nos pudimos ver el pajaro, necisitábamos hacer lo siguente:
4:30 levántamos de la cama
4:45 tomamos un taxi con Lucia
5:15  nos dejamos en un camino de tierra en la selva
5;20 Tres otro taxis llegaron con diez serias observadores de aves. No lo podíamos creer.

 Listen to the cacophony of Cock of the Rocks calling :

  Cock of the Rocks do not pair up, like most birds. Every day the males come to the same location (lek) and display (head-bobbing, and wing flapping) Their goal is to attract a female and then be chosen to mate with her.

Finally, it was light enough to see the birds and get a photo. But first, I had to stake out a spot in the crowded bird blind.

This was a surreal experience: seeing these unusual birds in this remote area. Sharing the space with all the birders. The friendly and helpful owner, collected $10 from each person. Lucia said that he fills up every morning (over a $100 a day).

Reader Jim Everard shared his adventure with the Cock of the Rock:
While serving in the Peace Corps in Peru in 1965-66, I had an opportunity to see the Cock of the Rock along a wild, rapid-filled stream in the high selva on the eastern slope of the Andes. I served as a technical advisor to the Peruvian Wildlife and Forestry Service based in Cuzco and saw the bird while on a working expedition involved in evaluating private land with the ideal of possibly establishing a sawmill.

P.S. Just so you know, that area was a hotbed of communist activity led by Che Guevara, Fidel Castro’s second in command. I was hauled into an army checkpoint along a road because I couldn’t produce my identify card (stolen by a pick-pocket). The soldiers had machine guns and had grenades strapped to their chests. Since I spoke Spanish with an accent, they thought I was a Cuban until I could identify two other Peace Corp Volunteers who were working and living in that area.