For hummingbird lovers, it is clear that these are the most fascinating creatures on Earth. Nevertheless, it is also clear that some hummers are more fascinating than others, some are rare, exceptionally beautiful, have adapted to extreme environments, or are restricted to small geographic areas. The main goal of this tour is to find the very special Purple-backed Sunbeam, a unique hummingbird restricted to a few small patches of vegetation along the Marañon basin, in north Peru.

We reserve the Purple-backed Sunbeam for the last part of the tour, as the cherry on the pie. Before the Sunbeam, the tour visits the mountains of Lima, and then, the Marañon valley and its tributaries. During the trip, it is possible to find up to 25 species of hummingbirds, including 5 Peruvian endemics.

First, in the Lima area, we will focus on looking for Peruvian Sheartail, Amazilia Hummingbird, Black-breasted Hillstar, and Olivaceous Thornbill. Also, the area is home of other fascinating birds like Andean Condor, Diademed Plover, Black Siskin, Andean Swallow, just to mention a few.

Afterwards, we flight north, to the Andean city of Cajamarca. There, our main targets are Grey-bellied Comet, Black Metaltail, Spot-throated Hummingbird, Giant Hummingbird, Green-headed Hillstar, and Shining Sunbeam. Besides hummingbirds, other interesting birds in the area are Striated Earthcreeper, Curve-billed Tinamou, Black-necked Woodpecker, Great Spinetail, Buff-bridled Inca-finch, Rusty-crowned Tit-spinetail, among others.

Having spent a couple of days around Cajamarca, we move east, to explore the area between the cities of Cajabamba and Huamachuco. First, not far from Cajabamba we will look for Great Sapphirewing, along with other birds like Rufous-eared Brushfinch, Plain-tailed Warbling-finch, and the colorful Tit-like Dacnis. The next stop is at El Molino, near the city of Huamachuco, where our main target is the endemic Purple-backed Sunbeam.

After having seen the Purple-backed Sunbeam, the tour finishes in the coastal city of Trujillo, from where you can flight back to Lima, or maybe take an extension tour for more hummingbirds.