Chile Birding Tours
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Chile is an impressive country with a width of only 445 kilometers (276 miles) at its widest point from the coastline to the snow-capped Andes but with a length of 4,270 kilometers (2653 miles) along the southern spine of South America. Chile borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. The Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Polynesia. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometers of Antarctica as the Chilean Antarctic Territory under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. The country is world-renowned for the history of the controversial Augusto Pinochet right-wing dictatorship from 1973 to 1990, its wealth and good infrastructure, and the famous Chilean wines which have reached almost all corners of the world.
Chile is a fascinating birding destination, hosting a total of 558 species of birds including 12 country endemics, with jewels such as King Penguin, Humboldt Penguin, Magellanic Penguin, Black-headed Duck, Torrent Duck, Andean Condor, Chilean Hawk, Austral Rail, Magellanic Plover, Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, South American Painted-snipe, Slender-billed Parakeet, Rufous-legged Owl, Austral Pygmy Owl, Chilean Woodstar, Chilean Flicker, Magellanic Woodpecker, Many-colored Rush Tyrant, Chocolate-vented Tyrant, Fire-eyed Diucon, Rufous-tailed Plantcutter, Chilean Mockingbird, Tamarugo Conebill, and Black-throated and Yellow-bridled Finches. In addition to these most-wanted species Chile also holds some striking, distinctive, and diverse species of passerines especially in the Furnariidae and Rhinocryptidae families, such as the endemic Crag Chilia, Rufous-banded Miner, White-throated Treerunner, Thorn-tailed Rayadito, Des Murs’s Wiretail, and Dusky-tailed Canastero. Those who are not familiar with the impressive Chucao Tapaculo, White-throated Tapaculo, Black-throated Huet-huet, Chestnut-throated Huet-huet, and Moustached Turca will have to see them to believe how different and striking they are.
