The Umbrella Bird is about the size of a crow, averaging about 18 inches in length. In 1850, he sent a report to the Zoological Society of London with a perfect description of this strange and bizarre bird: We do know that Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist and contemporary of Charles Darwin, recorded one of the first sightings by a European while on an expedition to the Amazon. Not a lot is known about the mysterious Umbrellabird family. Fortunately, there is a known lek (more on that below) near the Umbrellabird Lodge! Found in the Choco-Andino Region of Ecuador and Colombia, this endangered species can be very hard to see. Today, I am writing primarily about the third species, the Long-wattled Umbrellabird. Otherwise, these birds are all black with a slight sheen of blue or green in bright light. The Bare-necked Umbrellabird, found in Panama and Costa Rica, stands out for its bright red wattle. The Ornate Umbrellabird, sometimes called the Amazonian Umbrellabird, lives in the Amazon Basin and in a small area along Ecuador’s Andean East Slope. There are three species, the Ornate Umbrellabird, the Long-wattled Umbrellabird, and the Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Umbrellabirds are unique among the Cotinga family. All are found in Central and South America. Others bear strange names like fruitcrows and fruiteaters. Many have strange looking features, like the mesmerizing bobble-head on the Cock of the Rock. These birds have strong legs, broad wings, and thick bills. The Umbrellabird is a member of the Cotinga family. Little did we know that our hunt for new birds (at least new to us) would lead to such a strange and bizarre creature, the Long-Wattled Umbrellabird. When we arrived at the Umbrellabird Lodge on the Jocotoco Foundation’s Buenaventura Reserve, we were ready to do some birdwatching.