Southern Argentina Part I

This tour provides the most comprehensive coverage of some areas that are seldom visited by birding trips and offers the best chances to find their specialties. The flatlands of the Pampas are the epitome of Argentina, as expressed by William Henry Hudson, one of the first ornithologists who worked here. They are covered by grasslands that support cattle and agriculture as well as by wetlands that contain a rich bird life year-round. This trip takes us to look for special birds such as the localized Pampas Meadowlark and Chaco Pipit (two species virtually never covered by birding trips), as well as Bay-capped Wren-Spinetail, Hudson’s Canastero, Olrog’s Gull, Snowy-crowned Tern and the reed-bed specialists Wren-like Rushbird and Many-colored Rush-Tyrant. Large numbers of water birds are found here, including coots, ducks, grebes, herons and storks. The local Black-headed Duck and the elegant Black-necked Swan are also found.

South of here are the Monte brushlands, home to most of Argentina's endemic bird species. Sandy Gallito, White-throated Cacholote, Cinnamon Warbling-Finch and Carbonated Sierra-Finch are the most prominent, together with the endangered Yellow Cardinal as well as the Crested Gallito, Black-crowned Monjita and Hudson's Black-Tyrant. Farther south the brushy landscape gives way to the steppes of Patagonia, where soon after we discover the first flocks of Darwin's Rhea mixing with herds of graceful Guanacos. Rusty-backed Monjita, Eremobius and Patagonian Canastero are the three endemic birds to look for in this arid landscape, but a seacoast thriving with colonies of marine mammals and birds also pleasantly surprises us. At the mythical Valdes Peninsula and the massive Magellanic Penguin colony at Punta Tombo, we see Brown Skuas, Giant Petrels, three species of Cormorants, and yet another endemic: Chubut Steamerduck.

This tour can be combined with "Southern Patagonia & Tierra del Fuego".