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 Ecuador is a small country in South America roughly equal in size to the state of Colorado. With over 1,500 species of birds, approximately 18% of the planet’s bird species, Ecuador has more bird species and offers more bird diversity in less space than any other country in the world. Cloud forests are known to be the most diverse terrestrial plant communities on Earth. They are easy to recognize by the misty fog that hovers over them. The clouds deposit tiny drops of water on trees and plants, a process called horizontal precipitation. Moss, orchids, and bromeliads cover tree trunks and the forest floor. Ecuador is home to critical expanses of this forest on both the west and east sides of the Andes. The cloud forest’s steep slopes provide an almost continuous tree canopy. Cloud forests contribute significant precipitation to watersheds. Despite their importance, they are threatened by ranches, deforestation, and coffee plantations, among other factors.
 Two small coastal mountain ranges fringe the western coast of Ecuador. Above 1,300 feet, trees trap enough fog and mist to create a forest similar to the cloud forests that form around 5,000 feet in the Andes. The main research site (500-2,500 feet) was the La Reserva Ecologica de la Comuna Loma Alta (Loma Alta Ecological Reserve), a cloud forest reserve set aside and protected by the local community and located near the villages of Loma Alta and El Suspiro. Fishing and agriculture are the main sources of income for the local people.
Because South American tropical forests are tremendously species rich and are being destroyed rapidly, conservation and research are critical for protecting them. Steve Estebo, Minnesota Zoo Birds Zoologist, spent two weeks in the remote cloud forests with the Ecuador’s Cloud Forest Birds conservation project mist-netting and banding birds to get a better understanding of species diversity. Behavioral observations of hummingbirds were also conducted at established hummingbird feeding stations, with emphasis on the highly endangered Esmeralda's woodstar hummingbird, one of the smallest hummingbirds. Data was collected on production levels and concentrations of nectar found in the flowers of the Psychotria shrub, an important nectar source for hummingbirds.
 Their second week was spent in the local villages of Loma Alta and El Suspiro surveying bird species around the village perimeters, identifying local community species to encourage birding via ecotourism. In El Suspiro, the team taught school children the importance of the Bosque (forest), flower biology and the importance of birds in pollination. In Loma Alta, the team met with community leaders to discuss an action plan to encourage birding via ecotourism. This included educating community members about the forest, cleaning up litter in the village, providing clean lodging and safe food accommodations for tourists, providing better map directions to the area, acquiring telephone service and getting word out to the birding community. Only if the local community economically benefits from the presence of the forest can there be some guarantee that the cloud forest and the animals that depend on it will be preserved.
The Minnesota Zoo’s Ulysses S. Seal Conservation Program provided $1,800 to Steve to cover some of his expenses during his participation in this vital research project.
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