Argentina

Argentina is 3800 Km from top to bottom, sub-tropic in the north and sub-antatartic in the south. It goes from high Andes in the west to ocean in the east. The result is an increadibly diverse climate as well as flora and fauna and for us in particular, bird diversity. Alicia was born here so we have travelled here several times to visit family. Our latest trip was January 2024 and while visiting family we did a lot of birding and will show some of the images here and where the image was shot. We will put a bird list lower.

Yungas

The Yungas was our first stop. It is a unique area just east of the Andes and varies from dry forest at lower levels to sub-tropical forest at mid-levels and cloud forest at the highest levels. As such it is the most biodiverse region of Argentina for plants, animals and especially birds. We stayed with Alicia's sister Silvia and husband Carlos at their nature reserve Ecoportal de Piedra (facebook page). They get birders visiting from all over the world and during our stay we collected more than 150 bird Species with them. They have 3 cabins for visitors and they know where to find the birds. This list shows the different birds they have on their reserve. Below are some of the more interesting ones.

Blue and Yellow Tanger

Eating berries in the rain.

White-barred Piculet

Ocher-cheecked Tody Flycatcher

Very tiny bird that was very hard to photograph.

Yellow-browed Tyrant

Cinnamon flycatcher

Blue tufted starthroat

Black Billed Cuckoo

Yungas Dove

Yungas guan

I onle found in the Yungas region.

White Throated Tyranulet

tropical sceech owl

White monjita

Blue-crowned Trogon

Ultramarine Grossbeak

white faced ibis

Tataupa Tinamou

Puna

When you travel north from Jujuy city you climb very rapidly into the Andes mountains. Eventually you enter the Puna a high altitude plateau that can be 3500 meters or higher. This results again in different resident species. Following are some images we captured in the Puna or during our drive there.

Bare-eyed ground dove

Yellow-billed tit tyrant

Red backed negrito

Puna Tit Spinetail

Fluvous headed brush finch

Red-backed hawk

Ash-breasted Sierra Finch

Hellmayr's Pipit

Tufted tit spinetail

Puna Ibis

Pampa Finch

Mourning sierra finch

Chiguanco Thrush

grey hooded paraqueet

Chilean Flamingo

Andean coot

Mendoza

Mendoza is known for its wine production. We were mainly visiting family but did walk through the park and see a few interesting birds.

Stripped Crown Spinetail

Red tailed commet

Red Tailed Comet Female

Monk Parakeet

Gliterring bellied emerald

Chimango Caracara

Patagonia

Our last stop was to visit Alicia's brother in Comodoro Rividavia. While there we rented a car and drove 3 hours south to a small town called Puerto Desiado. This is primarily a fishing town and few tourists go here. However, we had seen tours offered by Los Vikingos and wanted to spend time with the Rockhopper Penguins. We were not disappointed. This company is first rate and a very good value. We got to see everything we wanted to see. I have created a video showing our experience. Penguin Video