14-Day Northern Patagonia Birding Tour

Southern Giant-Petrel

NORTHERN PATAGONIA BIRDING TOUR

Argentina & Chile

14 days

Best season between October to early March

DATES

Contact us to arrange your preferred travel dates.

OVERVIEW

Patagonia is one of the most iconic and renowned regions of South America. This vast area is known for its wilderness, diverse habitats, and dramatic landscapes. Many of its plant and animal species are found nowhere else in the world.

This extensive birding tour takes us through the most diverse regions of Patagonia, from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Pacific coast in the west, crossing scrublands, deserts, steppes, transitional forests, and temperate rainforests. Along the way, we visit impressive breeding colonies, search for endemic, range-restricted, and endangered species, and marvel at breathtaking landscapes, while also experiencing the local cuisine.

This tour offers excellent opportunities to see many of Patagonia’s most attractive bird species, including a particularly high diversity of rhinocryptids (tapaculos, gallitos, and huet-huets), a large proportion of Argentina’s endemic birds, and endangered species such as the Yellow Cardinal. We will also encounter two species of rheas, marine birds along both ocean coasts, and the world’s largest breeding colonies of Magellanic Penguins and Burrowing Parakeets.

In addition, the region is rich in marine and terrestrial mammals, including Southern Right Whale, Southern Elephant Seal, Dusky Dolphin, Guanaco, Patagonian Mara, armadillos, and more.

A unique birding tour to northern Patagonia, one of the top birding destinations in South America.

ITINERARY

Day 1: Morning arrival at Trelew Airport, followed by a transfer to Punta Tombo Natural Reserve. In the afternoon, we continue to Puerto Madryn with birding stops at Isla Escondida along the way. Overnight at a hotel in Puerto Madryn.

Day 2: Morning transfer to Puerto Pirámides in the Península Valdés Natural Reserve, with birding stops along the way. In the afternoon, we will bird around Puerto Pirámides. Overnight at a hotel in Puerto Pirámides.

Day 3: Morning birding around Puerto Pirámides (optional whale-watching boat trip). In the afternoon, we transfer to Las Grutas. Overnight at a hotel in Las Grutas.

Day 4: Full day of birding around Las Grutas. Overnight at a hotel in Las Grutas.

Day 5: Full day of birding in and around General Conesa. Overnight at a hotel in General Conesa.

Day 6: Early morning transfer with birding stops along the way, followed by birding around El Cóndor. Overnight at a hotel in El Cóndor.

Day 7: Birding around El Cóndor in the morning, followed by a flight to Bariloche in the afternoon. Overnight at a hotel in Bariloche.

Day 8: Transfer to San Martín de los Andes, followed by birding in the Patagonian steppe and marshes. Overnight at a hotel in San Martín de los Andes.

Day 9: Full day of birding in Lanín National Park. Overnight at a hotel in San Martín de los Andes.

Day 10: Full day of birding around San Martín de los Andes. Overnight at a hotel in San Martín de los Andes.

Day 11: In the morning, we visit Chapelco Mountain. In the afternoon, we transfer to Villa La Angostura with birding stops along the scenic Seven Lakes Route. Overnight at a hotel in Villa La Angostura.

Day 12: In the morning, we cross the border into Chile, followed by a transfer to Puerto Varas with birding stops along the way. Overnight at a hotel in Puerto Varas.

Day 13: Full day of birding around Puerto Varas. Overnight at a hotel in Puerto Varas.

Day 14: Morning birding around Puerto Varas, followed by a transfer to Puerto Montt Airport in the afternoon, marking the end of the tour.

KEY SPECIES

Endemic species: Band-tailed Earthcreeper, Carbonated Sierra-Finch, Sandy Gallito, Patagonian Canastero, White-throated Cacholote,

Brown Cacholote, Black-throated Huet-huet, Brushland Tinamou, Burrowing Parakeet, Chaco Earthcreeper, Chilean Flicker, Chilean Hawk, Chilean Skua, Chucao Tapaculo, Cinnamon Warbling Finch, Crested Gallito, Dark-bellied Cinclodes, Des Murs’s Wiretail, Diuca Finch, Elegant Crested Tinamou, Gray-bellied Shrike-Tyrant, Gray-hooded Sierra-Finch, Greater Rhea, Lesser Rhea, Lesser Shrike-Tyrant, Long-tailed Meadowlark, Magellanic Penguin, Magellanic Tapaculo, Magellanic Woodpecker, Mourning Sierra-Finch, Ochre-flanked Tapaculo, Patagonian Forest Earthcreeper, Patagonian Mockingbird, Patagonian Yellow-Finch, Ringed Warbling Finch, Scale-throated Earthcreeper, Sharp-billed Canastero, Southern Giant Petrel, Spot-winged Falconet, Striped Woodpecker, Thorn-tailed Rayadito, Tufted Tit-Spinetail, White Monjita, White-headed Steamer-Duck, White-throated Caracara, White-throated Treerunner, White-tipped Plantcutter, Yellow Cardinal.

TOUR DETAILS

Group Size: Maximum 8 participants + tour guide

Physical Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Accommodation: comfortable 3-star hotels

Transportation: Private vehicle with driver (car or minivan) and plane

Habitats Covered: Atlantic coast, Pacific coast, scrublands, desert, steppes, transitional forests, and temperate rainforest

Climate: During this tour we will be going through many different habitats and landscapes, from the warm north-east Patagonia (where we can have temperatures over 30°C) to the cold and windy Patagonian steppe and high Andes (where the temperature can be below 10°C at times in the summer).

Altitude: 0 – 1,500 meters / 0 – 4,921 feet above sea level

Possible extensions:
– Birding around Buenos Aires