Chile: Tierra del Fuego to the Atacama Desert

Saturday 27 October to Wednesday 14 November 2012

with Gavin Bieber as leader.

Cost: £4170 plus about £1200 for flights (2012)

Single room supplement: £470

Please click here for details and an explanation of the price breakdown

Maximum group size: 8 with 1 leader; 12 with 2 leaders.

Bird List

Booking Form

A fascinating collection of birds coupled with some of the most spectacular scenery on earth makes birding in Chile a superb experience.  This narrow country, 150 miles wide by 2500 miles long, is a land of immense variety and beauty – the grandeur of its wave-dashed Pacific beaches, the solitude of high Andean lakes, the rolling plains of Tierra del Fuego, and the utterly barren Atacama, the most perfect of deserts.  Travelling the length of the country impresses upon one the remarkable similarities of climate, vegetation, and topography, not to mention convergent evolution, between Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Birders today can thank Goodall, Johnson, Millie and Philippi, who brought to the fore our knowledge of Chile’s avifauna through their extensive field work from the 1920s through to the 1950s.  The triumphs and failures of this pioneering work are conveyed in Johnson’s classic Birds of Chile, now sadly out of print.  Their work showed that Chile has a bird list combining high quality and high visibility.  The avifauna ranges from penguins, rheas, flamingos and a superb selection of southern waterfowl and waders, to 30 species of ovenbirds (Furnariids), eight tapaculos (three of them endemic), nine sierra-finches, and five siskins. 

Our tour coincides with the austral spring, when bird activity is at its height, and is designed to take in all the major regions of this diverse land.  Chile is throughout a safe and friendly country in which to travel and has an excellent infrastructure for tourism.

Day 1:  The tour begins in London with an overnight flight to Santiago.

Day 2:  We’ll arrive in Santiago in the morning and if time allows we’ll visit some nearby areas for an introduction to the avifauna of Chile's Central Valley.  Night in Santiago.

Day 3:  This morning we’ll take the spectacular flight south to Punta Arenas on the northern shores of the Straits of Magellan.  The bleak, grey stone buildings of Punta Arenas belie its people, mainly of eastern European descent, who are as warm and hospitable as one finds anywhere, while the rocky coast and rolling grasslands, with their enclaves of European sheep farmers, suggest northern Scotland.  Ancient forests of twisted, stunted Nothofagus (southern beech) trees reflect the harshness of the southern temperate climate and contribute to the distinctive flavour of Patagonia, a world apart from the rest of South America.  Birding in the vicinity will produce a taste of the wealth of waterbirds the area is famous for, including Imperial Shag, Upland Goose, Flying Steamer-Duck, Two-banded Plover, Chilean Skua, Dolphin Gulls, and Magelanic Penguins at a colony near town.  The tiny and endearing Austral Negrito is ubiquitous.  Night in Punta Arenas.

Days 4-5:  We’ll have two full days to explore the vast, windswept Magellanic region.  One day we’ll take the short ferry ride across to Tierra del Fuego where we should see Magellanic Diving-petrel, Southern Giant-petrel and perhaps the beautiful Commerson’s Dolphin.  One of our main goals on Tierra del Fuego will be finding the enigmatic and dove-like Magellanic Plover (placed in its own family, Pluvianellidae), nesting at this season amid migrant Baird’s and White-rumped Sandpipers. 

Other breeding waders include the handsome Tawny-throated and Rufous-chested Dotterels.  The numerous lakes of southernmost Chile are often alive with waterfowl, such as Black-necked Swan, Ashy-headed and Ruddy-headed Geese, Crested Duck, and Speckled Teal.  Darwin's (Lesser) Rheas dot the landscape in many areas and we’ll be sure to visit a colony of the burrow-nesting Magellanic Penguins.  Landbirds include Short-billed and Common Miners, Patagonian Yellow-Finch and, with luck, the little-known Austral Canastero, and the striking Chocolate-vented Tyrant.  Nights in Porvenir and Punta Arenas.

Days 6-7:  This morning we’ll fly north from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt, gateway to Chile’s picturesque lake district, from which we'll drive north through the Chilean lake district to Antillanca, our base for the next two nights. The pastoral scenery en route strongly recalls parts of northern Europe, and the architecture and cuisine reflect the preponderance of German immigrants who have made the region their home.  Our hotel, however, sits amid spectacular old-growth temperate rainforests in the heart of Puyehue National Park.  The huge trees are in stark contrast to the open wilderness of Patagonia and the forests ring with the calls of two striking tapaculos, the Chucao Tapaculo and the Black-throated Huet-huet.  We’ll spend most of our time birding in the forest around our hotel, seeking in particular the impressive Magellanic Woodpecker and the skulking Ochre-flanked and Magellanic Tapaculos.  The supporting cast includes Austral Parakeet, Des Murs’s Wiretail, White-throated Treerunner, and Black-chinned Siskin.  We’ll also drive to some nearby lakes and rivers in search of the remarkable Torrent Duck.  Nights in Antillanca.

Day 8:  After a morning birding around our hotel we’ll drive, birding along the way, through the lake district back to Puerto Montt for our flight north to Santiago.  Night in Santiago.

Day 9:  Central Chile, at the same latitude as southern and central California, has a Mediterranean climate and maquis-like vegetation known as mattoral.  Extensive vineyards and the introduced California Quail, California poppy, and towering eucalyptus trees cultivated to give the illusion that one is in the Northern Hemisphere.  To dispel any doubts we’ll spend the day birding our way to the coast at Viña del Mar, passing through a variety of habitats where birds include Spot-flanked Gallinule, Wren-like Rushbird, and Rufous-tailed Plantcutter.  We’ll make a special effort to see the handsome Many-colored Rush-Tyrant and the endemic White-throated Tapaculo.  Along the coast, we should see Peruvian Booby, Peruvian Pelican, and the beautiful Inca Tern.  Night in Quintero.

Day 10:  Today we’ll make an early departure by boat a short distance offshore into the famous Humboldt Current which, by upwelling like its northern counterpart the California Current, provides a nutrient-rich base that supports a vast seabird population.  Up to five species of albatross are possible including Salvin’s, Buller’s and Royal, while Southern Fulmar, De Filippi’s and Westland Petrels, Peruvian Diving-Petrel and others are regularly seen.  To bring us back to earth, we’ll spend the afternoon looking for land-birds along the coast.  Night in Quintero.

Day 11:  We’ll make a full-day birding trip north along the coast with lunch by a colony of Humboldt Penguins.  Species we’ll be looking for in the mattoral-covered valleys leading down to the coast along our drive include Giant Hummingbird, Great Shrike-Tyrant and the endemic Dusky-tailed Canastero and Dusky Tapaculo.  We’ll be sure to stop and watch the Chilean Seaside Cinclodes feeding along the wave-splashed seashore amid migrant Surfbirds.  Night in Santiago.

Day 12-13:  The magnificent High Andes, their snow-capped peaks dominating the eastern horizon, are only a short drive from Santiago and will be our venue for the next two days. We’ll visit two sites with slightly different avifaunas, both in spectacular rugged settings.  The birdlife of this region includes the flashy White-sided Hillstar, Gray-breasted Seedsnipe, numerious ground-tyrants, sierra-finches, and ovenbirds (including the endemic Crag Chilia), the comical Moustached Turca (a roadside tapaculo!), huge Andean Condors, and with luck the ultimate shorebird - Diademed Sandpiper-Plover.  Nights in Santiago.

Day 14:  A morning flight will take us north, leaving the cultivated Central Valley and heading over the bleak expanses of the Atacama Desert to the coastal town of Arica in the extreme north of Chile.  Most of the day will be spent on the leisurely drive from Arica through the oasis-like Lluta Valley up to Putre, a small town nestled in a lush valley at about 11,500 feet.  As we climb, birds range from Croaking Ground-Doves and Peruvian Meadowlarks in the lowland oases, through Greenish Yello-Finch and Straight-billed Earthcreepers in the arid, scrubby foothills, to Andean Hillstar and Band-tailed Seedeater, both nesting at our hotel.  Night in Putre.

Day 15:  We’ll spend the whole day in and around Putre, taking our time with the almost completely new avifauna and also acclimatising to the new elevation.  We’ll see that the characteristic European face of central and southern Chile is gone.  The terraced alfalfa fields and herds of Llamas and Alpacas, tended by Indians clad in brightly-coloured wool garments, reflect the close cultural ties between northern Chile and the high Andes of Peru and Bolivia.  Birds we can expect to see around Putre include Bare-faced Ground-Dove, White-throated Earthcreeper, Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant, White-browed Chat-Tyrant, Black-throated Flowerpiercer, and Blue-and-yellow Tanager, and there’s a chance for Ornate Tinamou and Golden-billed Saltator.  Night in Putre.

Day 16:  Today will arguably be the highlight of the tour.  We’ll take the entire day to visit Lauca, often acknowledged as the most impressive national park in the Americas.  There are no adequate descriptions for the breathtaking (literally!) scenery of the puna plains and bogs below snow-capped volcanoes.  The park includes Lake Chungara, at 15,000 feet the highest lake in the world and covered with thousands of birds, among them Silvery Grebes, Puna Teal and Giant Coots.  Other birds here are Andean and Puna Flamingos, Puna Plover, Andean Flicker, White-winged Cinclodes, White-winged Diuca-Finch, Black Siskin, and White-throated Sierra-Finch.  Common mammals in the park include the elegant

Vicuña and the sleepy Vizcacha, which looks like a cross between a hare, a squirrel and a kangaroo.  Night in Putre.

Day 17:  After a morning birding around Putre we’ll work our way back down to the coast and our beachfront hotel in Arica where we can look out at hundreds of Gray Gulls and Elegant Terns.  Birds on the way down may include Peruvian Thick-knee, Oasis Hummingbird, and perhaps the spectacular Giant Conebill, only recently discovered in Chile.  Night in Arica.

Day 18:  We’ll spend the morning around Arica looking especially for two tiny and very local hummingbirds, the Chilean Woodstar and Peruvian Sheartail.  These, and several other species we already will have seen, are endemic to the coastal lowlands of Chile and adjacent southern Peru.  Other birds this morning will include Blackish Oystercatcher, Belcher’s Gull, Cinereous Conebill, and Chestnut-throated Seedeater.  We’ll then fly back south to Santiago, and catch an overnight flight back to London, where the tour concludes on Day 19.

The ground arrangements for this tour are organized by our American associates WINGS.

E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.

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Return to the 'South America' introduction

We begin in the far south of the country where we may find an Antarctic Fulmar and...


Rufous-chested Plover right by our hotel.


The Rufous-collared Sparrow is found throughout the country - this is the southern race.

There is always the chance of something unusual, such as this Snowy Sheathbill we found in 2005...

or perhaps a stunning Tawny-throated Dotterel.



Moving further north we discover some new species such as this Austral Thrush...


and this Giant Hummingbird.


We take a short pelagic into the Humboldt current where we find masses of seabirds.


Including Inca Terns, which on the 2004 trip actually landed on our boat...


while the following year this white morph Southern Giant Petrel joined Northern Giant Petrels and a Peruvian Pelican.


Other seabirds include the Peruvian Diving-Petrel.


Moving inland we find ourselves amidst the splendour of the Andes where Andean Condors sail overhead...


and where the Thick-billed Siskin is a rare summer visitor.


And of course we take time to seek out on of South America's most sought after birds - the Diademed Sandpiper-Plover.

Moving north we reach the famous Atacama Desert, home to Peruvian Thick-knee.


The Black-hooded Sierra-Finch can be found around Lake Chungara,

and sleepy Viscachas are often seen sunning themselves by the roadside.

Finally we return to the coast, where our last birds of the trip will include the smart Grey Gull.

Photos by Steve Howell.