Tour Features

Patagonia is home to a wide variety of iconic birds. It hosts roughly 60 species almost restricted or endemic to the region. The Andes in western Patagonia are not as high as they are further to the north, and unlike the subtropical Andes of Argentina and Chile, they are not dry, but host extensive southern beech forests instead and of course, their own particular fauna and flora, with spectacular birds, like Magellanic Woodpecker –the second largest woodpecker on Earth–, three species of owls and many others.

The endless steppes of Patagonia are home to quite unique birds too. These flat, open plateaus offer the perfect setting for bird watching. Many migrants are possible in this habitat, and finding mixed flocks of odd matching ‘partners,’ like for instance Tawny-throated Dotterel and Chocolate-vented Tyrant, is usual here. There are also several habitat specialists, with birds like Patagonian Tinamou and Lesser Rhea standing out, but there’s also a great diversity of passerines, including several species of ground-tyrants, a couple of miners, sierra finches, and many others.

The southernmost tip of the American Continent is a land of oceanic islands and channels. This is also the place where the Andes turn eastwards and into the ocean, where they run underwater to re-emerge several miles away from the mainland, forming the South Atlantic islands, including Isla de los Estados, the Falklands and South Georgia.

Tierra del Fuego is a very particular part of Patagonia, as it is home to a wide variety of seabirds. Penguins, cormorants and many other sea-bounded birds do nest along the Beagle Channel, while shearwaters, petrels and albatross of many species dwell the channels and fjords of this remote part of the planet. This is also a fantastic place to explore the timeberline, the place where the Andean Woods reach the barren lands of the highest peaks of the Andes, which –as mentioned before– are not so high here, allowing birders to try for specialties, including White-bellied Seedsnipe, Grey-flanked Cinclodes, Yellow-bridled Finch and Ochre-naped Ground Tyrant – all possible further north in Patagonia, but in rather inaccessible areas.

This tour is special for keen birders hoping to make the most of their visit to south-western Patagonia, looking for regional specialties in every possible habitat. It requires some mountain hiking in Tierra del Fuego, to look for White-bellied Seedsnipe, so tour participants must be fit enough to cope with this half-day walk up to the mountains. Otherwise, the tour can be tweaked to make it less strenuous, but some species would be missed.

Some Birds We’ll Look For

El Calafate & El Chaltén: Lesser Rhea, Patagonian Tinamou, Black-faced Ibis, Andean Condor, Chilean Flamingo, Torren Duck, Bronze-winged Duck, Black-chested Buzzard Eagle, Cinereous Harrier, Tawny-throated Dotterel, Magellanic Plover, Least Seedsnipe, Austral Parakeet, Austral Pygmy Owl, Chilean Flicker, Austral Canastero, Short-billed Miner, Cinnamon-bellied Ground Tyrant, Chilean Elaenia, Many-colored Rush Tyrant, Grass Wren, Austral Thrush, Patagonian Mockingbird, Short-billed Pipit, Grey-hooded Sierra Finch, Yellow-winged Blackbird and Long-tailed Meadowlark.

Ushuaia: Gentoo Penguin, Magellanic Penguin, Black-browed Albatross, Southern Giant Petrel, Southern Fulmar, Sooty Shearwater, Common and Magellanic diving petrels, Ashy-headed, Upland and Kelp geese, Flying and Fuegian streamer ducks, Chilean Hawk, White-throated Caracara, Magellanic and Blackish oystercatchers, White-bellied Seedsnipe, Snowy Sheathbill, Dolphin Gull, Chilean Skua, Lesser Horned Owl, Magellanic Woodpecker, Grey-flancked, Dark-bellied and Buff-winged cinclodes, Ochre-naped Ground Tyrant and Yellow-bridled Finch.

INFORMATION

Arrival

Afternoon meeting at El Calafate Airport. Drive to town and birding Laguna Nímez. O/N El Calafate.

Los Glaciares National Park

Full day birding Los Glaciares National Park. O/N El Calafate.

El Chaltén.

Drive to El Chaltén, birding en-route. O/N El Chaltén.

El Chaltén.

Full day birding El Chaltén. O/N El Chaltén.

Flight to Ushuaia.

El Chaltén to El Calafate and flight to Ushuaia. O/N Ushuaia.

North of Ushuaia

Full day birding north of Ushuaia, specially looking for birds above the timberline. O/N Ushuaia.

Tierra del Fuego National Park.

Morning birding Tierra del Fuego National Park. Afternoon birding Beagle Channel. O/N Ushuaia

Tour Conclusion.

Afternoon transfer to the airport. Tour conclusion.

From our gallery