For birdwatchers visiting South America, the Atacama desert in Chile and the Monte and Patagonian deserts in Argentina are challenging destinations.
The landscapes are stunning and great for photographers but birdwatchers have to work hard. The rewards though are worth it as there are a host of endemic birds to be found.
There are the Earthcreepers, a family of birds related to the ovenbirds, one of the biggest bird families in the World.
One of the ‘Living Wild in South America’ expeditions camped in the Monte desert region in Northwest Argentina and we came across a Scale-throated Earthcreeper. We watched it for some time as it scratched the ground, sending stony debris into the air. Eventually after 10 minutes it pulled from the ground a long invertebrate larva
There is also the Straight-billed Earthcreeper, we found this bird in the province of Mendoza.
Ground-Tyrants are small passerine members of the Tyrant-Flycatcher family, there are about 13 species and most inhabit arid landscapes. The species seen above is the Ochre-naped Ground Tyrant.
One family of birds that inhabit arid lands and deserts are the Tinamous, a family of birds endemic to South America, distantly related to the Rhea and Ostrich and even to the biggest true bird ever to inhabit the World, the prehistoric elephant bird. There are 46 species and all are confined to Central and South America.
The most common in the southern cone of the continent is the Elegant-crested Tinamou, easy to see but quite difficult to photograph.
More difficult to see and even more tricky to photograph is the Ornate Tinamou. The reasons for this difficulty are that all Tinamous have long been sought after for food and that they have intricately patterned plumage, enabling them to be cryptically camouflaged in the desert scrub.
Up in northern Chile, deep in the Atacama desert are a few oases. In some a special tree grows, the Tamarugo tree, related to the Prosopis. In such places you can find a Chilean endemic bird, the Tamarugo Conebill.
Birding South America’s deserts is rewarding and there are many other groups of birds to be found, the Sierra-finches, Doves, Miners and Gallitos for instance.
Both Chile and Argentina welcome birdwatchers and many tours operate in the areas.
For more specific information on Birding in South America’s deserts and Neotropic birding generally, google the Neotropic Bird Club.