About This Reserve

Welcome to one of the greatest hummingbird shows on Earth! Bring your camera and stay all day. We’ll feed you while you get the photos of a lifetime.

Buenaventura is located in the El Oro province; an area renowned for being one of the richest in bird diversity in the Ecuadorian Andes, and one of the most accessible too. The Reserve protects a narrow zone of cloud forest habitat on the otherwise seasonally dry west slope of the Andes in Southern Ecuador.

Buenaventura was established in 1999 by Ecuadorian conservation group Jocotoco Foundation to preserve this habitat for birds, particularly the range-restricted endemic El Oro Parakeet and El Oro Tapaculo. The Reserve has been expanded several times since then, some with support of American Bird Conservancy , and today it protects a total of 6,546 acres.

Buenaventura has an altitude range from 650-1300 meters above sea level, which has resulted in a wide variety of habitat types used by 330 species of birds including the Club-winged Manakin, Gray-backed Hawk, Rufous-headed Chachalaca, Pacific Royal Flycatcher, Pacific Tuftedcheek, Ecuadorian Tapaculo, Long-wattled Umbrellabird, Golden-winged Manakin and Ochraceous Attila.

Accommodations

  • Umbrellabird Lodge

    The Umbrellabird Lodge at Buenaventura Reserve—named because a lek of the globally threatened Long-wattled Umbrellabird is only a few minutes away—is at 500 m altitude and offers give comfortable cabins with private bathrooms, which can house a maximum of 14 people.

  • Porch at Umbrellabird Lodge

    The Umbrellabird Lodge at Buenaventura Reserve—named because a lek of the globally threatened Long-wattled Umbrellabird is only a few minutes away—is at 500 m altitude and offers give comfortable cabins with private bathrooms, which can house a maximum of 14 people.

  • Cabin at Buenaventura

    The Umbrellabird Lodge at Buenaventura Reserve—named because a lek of the globally threatened Long-wattled Umbrellabird is only a few minutes away—is at 500 m altitude and offers give comfortable cabins with private bathrooms, which can house a maximum of 14 people.

  • Buenaventura Dining Room

    There is an open-air restaurant where you will enjoy watching hummingbirds zooming in and out of feeders, and chachalacas and tanagers feeding at fruit while sipping a coffee, or simply relaxing in the afternoon.

  • Hummingbird Garden

    Hummingbird feeders abound at Buenaventura. Set up your camera and settle in!

Bird Feeder
Dining Available
Guide Available
Hummingbird Garden
Overnight Accomodation
Photography Opportunity
Trails Available

Reserve Information

Make a Reservation

ABC-supported Reserve

What You'll See

  • Hummingbird feeders

    Benjamin Skolnik

  • Club-winged Manakin

    Dusan Brinkhuizen

  • El Oro Parakeets

    Jocotoco Foundation

  • Golden-winged Manakin Cerulean

    Benjamin Skolnik

  • Grey-backed Hawk

    Dubi Shapiro

  • Ochraceous-Attila

    Nick Athanas

  • Rufous-Headed Chachalaca

    Greg Homel

  • Buenaventura Reforestation Nursery

    Benjamin Skolnik

Jocotours

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