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Birding Tours & Bird Watching Holidays In Chile: Andes + Chiloe + Patagonia

Birding Holiday - Chile: Andes + Chiloe Island + Patagonia

17 NIGHTS FROM:

$6,311

Per person sharing

Scheduled flights quoted separately

7CPA17S

• Bird Watching Holidays in Chile

• Santiago

• Andes Mountains

• Pelagic Birding, Valparaiso

• La Campana National Park

• Puerto Montt, Lake District

• Conguillio National Park

• Chiloe Island

• Patagonia

• Birding Tours, Chile

Accompanied by a specialist birding guide, our birding tours & bird watching holidays in Chile are best during their spring (early October to early March). Starting in Santiago, enjoy birding in the Andes & pelagic birding trip from Valparaiso, before heading south to the beautiful Lake District & Chiloe Island, ending in spectacular Patagonia. This is a shared tour, but we can tailor make a private tour to your needs.

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Day 1

You will be met at Santiago Airport and transferred to your hotel conveniently located near the airport in the capital of Santiago de Chile.

Check in to your hotel in this sophisticated and cosmopolitan city, situated in a valley surrounded by the snow capped Andes and the beautiful Chilean Coastal Range.

Day 2

An early start this morning, as your birding guide collects you from Santiago for the short drive to explore the marshes around Lampa and Batuco.

Wetlands are under a lot of urban pressure in central Chile, and Lampa and Batuco are no exception, but here you can hope to see a range of waterfowl including the Yellow-billed pintail, Yellow-billed teal, Cinnamon teal, Chiloe wigeon and Red shoveler. Other targets include the Rosy-billed pochard, Cocoi heron, White-cheeked pintail and hopefully the South American painted snipe. We also hope to see a Correndera pipit singing high in the air in its characteristic courtship display.

After an included picnic lunch, we continue birding in the spectacular setting of the mountain village and ski resort of Farellones. There are several Andean specialties here including Mountain caracara, White-sided hillstar, Rufous-banded miner, Creamy-rumped miner, Greater yellow finch, Grey-hooded and Band-tailed sierra finch. We look out for the endemic Chilean tinamou and Chilean mockingbird. We also hope to see Cinereous, Black-fronted, White-browed and Rufous-naped ground tyrants, as well as Red-backed (Variable) hawks and Aplomado falcons.

Day 3

Your guide will collect you early this morning from Santiago for a full day of birding in the Yeso Valley, which is well known for being one of the most accessible places to see the sought-after Diademed sandpiper plover. This beautiful and enigmatic mountain shorebird breeds in the high elevation bogs of the valley and will be our main target for the day. A picnic lunch is included.

On the way to higher elevations, there are many other interesting species we will be stopping to look for including the endemic Crag chilia and Moustached turca, as well as Torrent ducks found in fast-moving rivers, and many Andean specialties such as the White-sided hillstar, Andean goose, Scale-throated earthcreeper, Black-fronted and White-browed ground tyrants, Greater yellow finch, Yellow-rumped siskin, Andean condors and Mountain caracara. Also hope to see the Black-chested buzzard eagle, Black-winged ground dove, grey-flanked cinclodes and Black-billed shrike tyrant.

The El Yeso Valley is a lovely mountain spot, where we will also have good chances of seeing flocks of Mountain parakeets. Reaching higher elevations we will also be able to see some more rare and localised species such as the Creamy-rumped miner and Grey-breasted seedsnipe. The scenery here is some of the most beautiful and dramatic in Central Chile as high mountains, turquoise lakes, hanging glaciers and white-water rivers combine to make a magnificent spectacle.

Day 4

The Coastal Range separates the Chilean Central Valley from the Pacific Coast and we will drive across it today to explore the productive Maipo Estuary and surrounding coastal wetlands, including El Peral Reserve.

Our target birds here include the Stripe-backed bittern, the brood-parasitic Black-headed duck and the striking Many-colored rush tyrant. We will also have a chance to find the scarce Ticking doradito.

Afterwards we continue to our hotel in the 'Garden City' of Viña Del Mar, with its many parks and floral clock. Although a popular seaside resort, the Humboldt current from Antarctica means the sea is cold here, with heavy morning fog that usually burns off by midday. Outside the Fonck Museum you can see an original giant Moai statue from Easter Island. Both lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 5

Today we drive to Valparaiso harbour for an unforgettable boat trip to the cold and productive waters of the Humboldt Current, considered one of the world's finest pelagic birding destinations.

During this 6-hour trip, we should see a great variety of tubenoses (petrels), including up to six different albatross species - Black-browed, Salvin's, Buller's, Chatham, Wandering (Antipodean) and both northern and southern Royal albatrosses.

We also hope to find southern and northern Giant petrels, Pintado, Masatierra, White-chinned and Westland petrels, Pink-footed, Buller's and Sooty shearwaters, Wilson's storm petrels and Peruvian diving petrels. Other seabirds we may encounter include the Red phalarope, Sabine's gull and Chilean skua. There are good chances of seeing cetaceans, although they are always difficult to predict. In these waters we can also hope to see Dusky dolphins, Southern right whale dolphins and Orcas.

In the afternoon we head to Cachagua on the rocky coast north of Valparaiso, where we visit a protected breeding colony of endangered Humboldt penguins. The endemic Seaside cinclode and the delightful Marine otter are other possible sightings here.

Before ending the day and returning to Viña Del Mar, we stop in a coastal marsh to see a variety of waterfowl including the Red shoveler, Yellow-billed pintail, Speckled teal, Chiloe wigeon, Spot-flanked gallinule and Plumbeous rail, which is surprisingly quite easy to spot as it often walks in the open. We also hope to see all three lowland Coot species (Red-gartered, White-winged and Red-fronted). Both lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 6

During the morning we will bird at La Campana National Park, where we will be looking for an interesting array of passerines, all endemic to Chile. These include Dusky-tailed canastero, Moustached turca, Dusky tapaculo and White-throated tapaculo. We are also likely to encounter the remarkable Giant hummingbird, Striped woodpecker, Austral pygmy owl and Chilean pigeon.

Mount La Campana ('The Bell') is the highest peak and dominates the landscape. This region receives enough moisture from the ocean to sustain broad-leaf forests and a xeric shrubland named 'matorral' (Chile's equivalent to California's 'chaparral').

We continue driving southwards through the Central Valley, travelling along the Panamerican Highway towards Talca, where the forested rural region of Vilches will be our base. This evening we take a short owling night excursion, as Rufous-legged owls roost in the woodlands behind the lodge. Lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 7

At dawn we visit the temperate southern beech forests of Altos de Lircay Nature Reserve to seek out several Patagonian woodland specialties. These Nothofagus forests provide a suitable habitat for an interesting array of species, including the rare Rufous-tailed and White-throated hawks, Austral parakeet, Thorn-tailed rayadito and White-throated treerunner. We search in the undergrowth and bamboo thickets for the quasi-endemic Chestnut-throated huet-huet and Magellanic tapaculo, which are our main target birds here.

Along the road we may see the largest of the tyrant flycatchers, the Great shrike-tyrant, which usually perches on wires looking for large insects and even small birds and rodents. We then head to the mountains once more to briefly visit Lake Colbun, where our search will focus on the threatened local population of Burrowing parakeet, which usually congregate in noisy flocks. Lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 8

After some dawn birding, we drive 3.5-hours to Santiago Airport for your onward flight.

Arrive in Temuco Airport and transfer to your hotel in this town that is the gateway to northern Patagonia.

Lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 9

This morning we visit the slopes of the Llaima Volcano east of Temuco, situated inside the gorgeous Conguillio National Park.

This protected area offers spectacular vistas and remarkable vegetation, including forests of the peculiar Chilean Pine (also known as Monkey-puzzle trees, or 'araucaria'). These woodlands are reminiscent of pre-historic landscapes and here we will have a good chance of seeing the endemic Slender-billed parakeet and Magellanic woodpecker, as well as a variety of Patagonian songbirds such as Des Murs's wiretail, Fire-eyed diucon, Patagonian tyrant, Austral blackbird and Black-chinned siskin.

The soils on the volcano slopes and in the forests produce an attractive array of wildflowers, including several species of ground orchids, anemones, geraniums and lady slippers. Lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 10

We visit Cerro Nielol today, an interesting and well preserved urban natural forest, where we will try to find the rare Rufous-tailed hawk, Black-throated huet-huet and Des Murs's wiretail.

We then drive southwards towards Puerto Montt, with views of volcanos that form part of the Andes. The most striking of these is the Osorno Volcano, with its almost perfect cone-shaped profile.

The city of Puerto Montt is located at the very end of Chile' Central Valley. The topography south of here starts to break out, forming the maze of archipelagos and channels known as the Patagonian Fjords. These grasslands, orchards and agricultural fields are ideal habitat for the Black-faced ibis, Chimango caracara, Southern lapwing, Chilean flicker, Rufous-tailed plantcutter, Common diuca finch and Grassland yellow finch.

We explore the lush temperate rainforest of Alerce Andino National Park, located just one hour south of Puerto Montt. Here we will search for other Patagonian rainforest specialties including the Chilean hawk, Green-backed firecrown, the skulking Black-throated huet-huet, Ochre-flanked tapaculo and White-crested elaenia.

Later, on route back to Puerto Montt, we scan the intertidal mudflats in search of wintering flocks of Nearctic visitors such as the Hudsonian godwit, Red knot and Sanderling. Other common coastal birds found here include the stocky Flightless steamer duck, Black-necked swan, American oystercatcher, Brown-hooded gull and the local Snowy-crowned (Trudeau's) tern. Lunch and dinner is included today.

Day 11

This morning we drive 1-hour to Pargua to take the 45-minute ferry across the Chacao Strait to Chiloe Island, with its iconic wooden churches. Chiloe is the second largest island in Chile after Grand Tierra del Fuego. Blue whales gather off the northwest coast, where three islets are breeding grounds for Magellanic and Humboldt penguins.

This short 30-minute journey offers great marine wildlife viewing opportunities and we are likely to see pods of Peale's dolphins, groups of South American sea lions and a great array of seabirds including southern Giant petrels, Sooty and Pink-footed shearwaters, Imperial and Red-legged cormorants, Peruvian pelicans and South American terns.

Once on the island we'll take a scenic drive to the little fishermen's cove of Punihuil. Here we will circumnavigate the islets to see one of the few mixed breeding colonies of Humboldt and Magellanic penguins. The Marine otter, Magellanic cormorant, Kelp goose and Flightless steamer duck are also usually found here.

Pygmy blue whales, one of the largest mammals in the world, are often seen from December until March. We also have great pelagic prospects such as the poorly-known Subantarctic shearwater, which nests along this rugged, densely forested coastline. If you are interested in spending more time at sea, we can arrange an optional 3 to 4-hour boat trip to Metalqui Island. Lunch and dinner are included today. In the early evening we return to Puerto Montt.

Day 12

Early morning, with the first light of the day, we take a boat trip into the Reloncavi Sound to look for seabirds, particularly the recently discovered Pincoya storm petrel - a new species to science, overlooked for many years because of its strong similarities to sympatric Wilson's storm petrels.

The range of this species seems to be very local and restricted to the waters south of Puerto Montt, and between the Chiloe Island and the Continent. Lunch is included today.

Afterwards transfer to Puerto Montt Airport for your onward flight.

Arrive in Punta Arenas (meaning 'Sandy Point'), where you will be met by your birdig guide. This southernmost port city is situated on the Strait of Magellan that link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

On arrival enjoy some birding along the coast looking for the Flying steamer duck, Crested duck, Kelp goose, King and Rock cormorant, and Magellanic oystercatcher. These coastal grasslands can produce other interesting sheldgeese, including the ubiquitous Upland goose, the smaller Ashy-headed goose and the endangered Ruddy-headed goose. Dinner is included tonight.

Day 13

This morning we take the 2-hour ferry across the Strait of Magellan to the small village of Porvenir on the island of Tierra del Fuego.

Along the way we will be entertained by an interesting array of tubenoses such as the Black-browed albatross, Southern giant petrel, Southern fulmar, the delightful Cape (or 'Pintado') petrel, White-chinned petrel, Sooty shearwater, Wilson's storm petrel and Magellanic diving petrel. We will see other seabirds too including the Magellanic penguin, Chilean skua, Kelp and Dolphin gulls, and South American tern. Possible marine mammals include the common South American sea lion and playful pods of Peale's dolphins.

Once we land in Porvenir we check the coast where we should see Crested duck, Chiloe wigeon, Baird's and White-rumped sandpipers, Magellanic oystercatcher and Dark-bellied cinclodes, among several others. We continue east to explore Useless Bay (Bahia Inutil), where we are likely to find a wealth of seabirds and other aquatic birds. En route we will be checking for potential raptors including the Variable hawk, Aplomado and Peregrine falcons. Magellanic horned owls nest in some of the ravines we will be passing.

But the main target of our visit to this scenic island is the Pinguino Rey Nature Reserve, which is situated 2-hours by road from Porvenir.

Pinguino Rey Nature Reserve is home to a colony of over 150 King penguins, including around 40 breeding pairs, although the number of penguins that can be seen depends on weather conditions and the stage in the reproductive cycle. For example from October to December you can observe prenuptial molting, courtship and the independence of chicks from the previous season. From December to February you can see the incubation and birth of the first chicks, and from February to May you can see their rearing and growth.

After spending 1-hour on a guided tour of the penguin colony, we head back to Porvenir, driving through the shrubby slopes and moorlands of the Baquedano Hills searching for the Rufous-chested dotterel, Austral canastero and the stunning White-bridled finch. Lunch and dinner are included today.

Note: The penguin reserve is closed from June to mid-October, when the adults make longer feeding trips away from the coast and the penguins remaining on land take refuge from the winter weather.

Day 14

This morning we visit Laguna Verde and other alkaline lagoons outside Porvenir. Our target here will be the local and odd-looking Magellanic plover. This enigmatic wader looks more similar to a little dove than to any shorebird, and is often seen feeding by 'scratching' the mud with its bright pink legs. Other birds of this area include the Two-banded plover, Wilson's phalarope, the abundant White-rumped sandpiper, Short-billed miner and ubiquitous Austral negrito.

The windswept steppes of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia hold a number of specialties including Least seedsnipe, Tawny-throated dotterel, Short-billed miner, Band-tailed earthcreeper and Chocolate-vented tyrant. A short ferry ride will take us back to the mainland and, if we are lucky, we may see the striking Commerson's Dolphin following in the wake.

As we drive along the road towards Pali Aike National Park birds such as the Chilean flamingo, Coscoroba swan, Silver teal plus thousands of waders such as Wilson's phalarope, Baird's and White-rumped sandpipers will be common along the roadside wetlands, as we enjoy the beauty of this 'big sky' country.

On our journey to Puerto Natales we should encounter the Lesser rhea, Cinereous harrier, Cinnamon-bellied ground tyrant and Patagonian mockingbird. Large herds of camel-like guanacos will also be a common sight along the entire road. Other possible mammals we could see include the South American gray fox ('chilla'), Patagonian hairy armadillo and Patagonian hog-nosed skunk.

On arrival check into your hotel in this former fishing town situated on the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) Sound and the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park. Lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 15

Today we drive 2-hours across the dry scrubland of the Magellanic Steppe to Torres del Paine National Park - a 242,000 hectare UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its soaring mountains, electric blue lakes and many glaciers.

We have the whole day to explore its diverse habitats and appreciate the colossal magnitude and rugged beauty of the awe-inspiring granite peaks which name the park.

The reed-fringed lagoons of the eastern side of the park will keep us busy during the morning. Here we will find a wealth of waterbirds including Great, Silvery and White-tufted grebes, Ruddy (Andean) and Spectacled ducks, Speckled teal, Yellow-billed pintail and, with luck, the elusive and recently re-discovered Austral rail. We also hope to see Andean condors and Black-chested buzzard-eagles hovering in these turbulent skies.

During the afternoon we visit Lake Grey to enjoy the stunning sight of its southern shore, which is dominated by blue icebergs. We will scan the fast-flowing rivers hoping to find the remarkable and colourful Torrent duck, before driving back to Puerto Natales. Lunch and dinner are included today.

Day 16

Early this morning we will explore the impressive Sierra Baguales mountain range, located northeast of Torres del Paine. Along the road and in the scrubby gullies, we will look for Chile's more restricted-range songbirds such as the Patagonian mockingbird and Grey-bellied shrike-tyrant.

As we continue exploring this montane habitat, we might find the local White-throated caracara, Grey-breasted seedsnipe, Rufous-banded miner, Cinnamon-bellied and Ochre-naped ground tyrants, Patagonian and Greater yellow finches and the stunning Yellow-bridled finch.

Afterwards we drive back to Punta Arenas. Lunch and dinner are included today.

Arrive at Santiago Airport and make your own way by free shuttle or on foot (depending on location) to your hotel situated close to the airport.

Check in and relax in the shadow of the Andes Mountains.

Day 17

Make your own way by hotel shuttle or on foot to Santiago Airport for your flight home.

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