Cusco Birding Tours & More

Machu Picchu Cusco Birding aims to make Cusco birding tours an accessible activity for everyone, offering reasonable costs but without sacrificing quality of service. Machu Picchu Cusco Birding is the natural history arm of Peru Unique Destination, a tourism agency with more than 10 years’ experience in the market. It is also one of a small number of travel agencies located in the city of Cusco, which is one of the best locations to cover the southern part of the country.

Peru is a meeting of geographical features that make it unique for birdwatching. Its proximity to the Equator, the ocean currents that pass by its shores and its gradients from sea level to more than 6,000m give it megadiverse habitats and species.

In addition, Peru’s rich history of civilisations dating back more than 5,000 thousand years and its fascinating mix of cultures, augmented by migrants from as far afield as Spain, Africa and the Far East, have attracted visitors from all over the world.

Likewise, many years of experience in delivering the best tourist destination in South America has ensured a quality of service that has become a benchmark for other countries. The availability of hotels rated from 3 to 5 stars, the wide variety of restaurants, the good condition of the roads and modern vehicles, as well as the level of knowledge of local tour guides exceed the expectations of most travellers.

For bird lovers, the southern part of Peru is the most recommended when it comes to quantity and variety of species. In this area can be found more than 1,300 species out of the 1,800 that inhabit the country.

In the Cusco area you can consider the Abra Malaga and its 10 endemic birds, or Machu Picchu, which also has its endemic birds as well as bamboo specialists such as the Inca Wren or the colourful Cock-of-the-Rock, nestled in the middle of the cloud forest. Or you can take the Manu Road, which is the favourite destination for many nature lovers. And that’s without mentioning some of the many other birding hotspots to be explored around the famous archaeological centre of the ancient Incan civilisation.

Using Cusco as a base also gives perfect connectivity with the regions of Arequipa and the Colca Canyon, and Puno where the Titicaca Grebe can be seen in the famous lake.  And, of course, Madre de Dios and its protected National Parks of Tambopata and Manu.

In Peru, birdwatching tourism has had a reputation for being ‘elite’. Itineraries that have included only luxury hotels, with non-local guides which have led to a somewhat high cost of the holiday package.  Machu Picchu Cusco Birding believes in opening up Peruvian birdwatching to everyone, regardless of their budget. By doing this it hopes to engage not only more young people but everyone who loves nature and get them involved in this exciting activity.

Why choose Machu Picchu Cusco Birding?

• We are direct operators of all our services – we don’t use intermediaries that can increase the costs.
• We take care of the entire operation from tours and activities as well as accommodation and domestic flight air tickets.
• We are based in the city of Cusco, which puts us right on the spot to know what birds are about and where to find them.
• We only work with local guides, each one a specialist in their own area. This contributes to the local economy and avoids unnecessary transportation and lodging expenses.
• We are focused on the south of Peru in the regions of Cusco, Puno, Arequipa, Abancay and Madre de Dios and no one knows our ‘patch’ better.
• Being part of the broader company Peru Unique Destination allows us to offer complimentary activities to our guests, such as gastronomic experiences, Pisco tasting, cookery classes, as well as yoga and meditation sessions.

We work in three markets:

• Birdwatchers who want to be 90% to 100% focused on birds.
• Photographers who can need to be able to spend hours searching for their perfect shot.
• Naturalists who are interested in birds but who are also eager for other experiences such as gastronomic and cultural, as well as observing other aspects of Peruvian nature such as orchids and butterflies.

Our Guide:

José Luis Lescano has dedicated his life to guiding guests on adventure, gastronomic and nature tours.  He is a professional tour guide with over 20 years’ experience in the sector.  He has worked as a tourism consultant on projects for the European Union, the World Bank and for a variety of local government and Peruvian national programs.

In the field of teaching, he works as a professor specialising in orchids and birdwatching, as well as in wildlife guiding techniques.  José Luis has also been responsible for tourism projects that use birdwatching, including Cusco birding tours, as a tool to protect the environment and fulfil social responsibility.