|
Birding itineraries
for northern Chile: Arica, Iquique, Putre, Lauca National Park,
Natural Monument and Ramsar Site
Salar de Surire
|
|
All tours are customized;
reservations required. Choose full package tours or daily guide
service in your own rental car. Consider the following itineraries as
suggestions as we nearly always adjust the route according to the time
of year and the experience of the birders or photographers.
Tours can be adjusted for the whole spectrum of birders from
beginners to experts.
The
boat trip is optional, there are other choices like more
time with hummingbirds, or for photography. These routes pass through
interesting botanical habitat and you'll see
thousands of camelids and maybe Andean Deer and other highland mammals. Tours available year
round.
Looking
for just a few certain species? Inquire for dedicated birding
for the specialties. B.
Knapton guides all birding tours for Alto Andino.
Right: Inca Terns, Larosterna
inca. They nest in the harbor of Arica, and are easy to get
close
to.
All photos © B. Knapton
|
|
|
SLICE
OF THE ANDES
FOR THE BIRDS: 18º S, Arica to Lauca National Park, ends Iquique
3 to 5 days
Arica, Putre, Parque Nacional Lauca, extension to Ramsar Site
Salar de
Surire, Atacama
Desert
to Iquique. Available
all year, also can be adjusted to begin and end tour in Arica. Habitats
include near shore marine, rocky and sandy beaches, small estuary, native and
agricultural vegetation of the transverse valleys, precordillera
cactus scrub, high Andes lakes and cushion bogs, salt flats, and Polylepis.
|
|
|
|
|
Day 1: Start Arica:
Beach birding for our only geo-political
endemic, the Chilean Seaside-cinclodes, ("the most maritime of all
passerine birds") and for oystercatchers, Inca Terns, turnstones, Surfbirds, etc.
optional boat trip to Humboldt Penguin colony or environs of Arica.
Instead of boat trip,
choose more time for observing or photographing hummingbirds, in a
garden especially dedicated to hummer flowers.
Afternoon
visit to tiny estuary for herons, shorebirds,
ducks, coots, and shorebirds. Then up to Putre stopping along the way for Peruvian
Thick-knee, Bran-colored
Flycatcher, Peruvian Pygmy-Owl, and the new genera and species
that begin with the ascent up
the foothills of the Andes. Overnight in Putre, choose overnight
in B and B Casa Barbarita with naturalist
library or 3 star Hosteria. Overnight will be at 3,550
meters.
photos
of Putre
|
Day
2:
Morning in Parque Nacional Lauca,
introduction to
cushion
bogs and tola-grassland habitat. 
Afternoon birding in cactus-scrub and Polylepis
habitats in the gorges near Putre.
Diademed Sandpiper-Plover, Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe,
Black-throated Flowerpiercer, White-fronted, Rufous-napped, Puna
and Ochre-naped ground-tyrants, White-winged Cinclodes, Ornate
Tinamou, White-throated Sierra-Finch, White-throated
Earthcreeper, Mountain Parakeet, D’Orbigny’s and
White-browed chat-tyrants, Magellanic Horned Owl,
Straight-billed Earthcreeper, Aplomado Falcon, Golden-billed
Saltator, other ground tyrants, earthcreepers, tit-tyrants,
canasteros, sierra finches, seedeaters and hummingbirds.
Possible Giant Conebill, Thick-billed Siskin,
Rufous-webbed Tyrant.
Day 3: Parque
Nacional Lauca, wetland assemblages at Lago Chungará and
Parinacota bofedal, tola grassland and riparian habitats. National Monument
Parinacota Village for an
optional stop to see the lovely frescoes on the church walls.
Chilean, Andean, James’ flamingos, Puna Tinamou,
White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant, Puna Rhea, Puna Teal, Giant and
Andean coots, Variable
Hawk, Puna Ibis, Mt. Caracara, Black Siskin, Bright-rumped
Yellow-Finch, Puna Plover, Puna Snipe, Andean Flicker, avocets, lapwings, ducks,
grebes, canasteros, tit-spinetails.
Day 4:
A
day for the Atacama Desert visiting
Tamarugo
mesquite (Prosopis), and the transverse valleys that provide
corridors for altitudinal migration.
Tamarugo Conebill, Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant, Andean Swift,
Scale-throated Earthcreeper, Plain-mantled Tit-Spinetail,
Slender-billed Finch, Chestnut-Throated Seedeater, Oasis Hummingbird,
Chilean Woodstar, Croaking Ground-Dove and other arid-land birds. End
tour in Iquique.
Includes all food, bottled water, use of spotting scope(s), bird
lists, mammal lists, emergency oxygen for Lauca, transportation,
thermos jugs, etc. Price for tour depends on group size, please
inquire. This itinerary available all year. This tour
can also include wildflowers of the
Atacama, which are found along the route in certain seasons.
|
 
Pied-crested Tit-tyrant, Anairetes reguloides,
left, and Slender-billed Finch, Xenospingus concolor,
right
|
|
Ramsar
Site Salar de Surire extension, 4WD: 1 or 2
days, starts and ends in Putre
Surire is the best
place for flamingo photography, thermal baths, and for seeing
Puna Rheas. The Surire
trip can include a night in the refugio at
4,300 meters above sea level. Or we can leave very early
from Putre and make the round trip in a full day. Surire is wonderful,
magical, isolated, an excellent example of an altiplano salar
and an important breeding locality for Andean, Chilean, and a
few James' flamingos. Nearby Polylepis
tarapacana copses may yield some surprises, there's a
chance for Rufous-webbed Tyrant, Puna Yellow-Finch,
Red-backed Sierra-Finch, Puna Snipe, Gray-bellied Shrike-Tyrant,
Thick-billed Siskin, Tawny-throated Dotterel, the black
subspecies of the Mourning Sierra-Finch. At the Salar we
like to look for armadillos and cuys, and to observe the
(seasonal) colonies of nesting flamingos, albeit from
afar.
|
|
|
|
|
|
3
DAYS FOR THE BIRDS
Arica -- lowland transverse
valleys --
Putre -- PN Lauca |
Concentrated birding
for those short on time, or for those who have already seen
some of our birds in Peru or Bolivia. Mostly new birds each day as we gain in
elevation. Starts and ends in Arica.
3
days,
2 nights. Starts in Arica, BK guides.
Day 1: Starts early morning, beaches, transverse
valleys, riparian habitat, overnight Putre.
Day 2: In the ravines, terraces, and
microhabitats of the precordillera, overnight Putre.
Day 3: In the altiplano portion of Parque
Nacional Lauca. Tour ends in Putre or Arica or
you can stay in Parque Lauca on your own after the tour for additional
birding.
|
Puna Ibis, Plegadis ridgwayi
in the setting sun, Lago Chungará
© B. Knapton
|
|
How to save money on birding tours: choose a
"semi-independent" tour. There are several options,
for instance you can take the bus to Putre, and/or take the bus back
to Arica, thus saving tour costs on those independent days.
Another way to save money for those with rental cars, Barb's guide
service is now available in 2 forms, short day and long day. Please
inquire.
Below: birding
opportunity for Lauca and Putre, good for semi-independent birders. Time to really look at birds,
observe behavior, practice your ID skills, do some photography, sketching, hike around, and breathe good
fresh air in the Andes. Partly guided, partly
independent, can be any number of days.
|
|
Semi
independent: guided tour precordillera and Parque
Nacional Lauca
Day 1: Come to Putre on public bus, leaves Arica at 6:45
am. Arrives Putre 11 am. No guide service this day, you
bird or hike on your own, overnight private use of house with
naturalist library.
Day 2: More birding on your own, walking around Putre,
acclimatizing to the altitude. We have all bird books pertinent to the area.
Overnight Putre.
Day 3: Guided tour with BK to Polylepis grove and other precordilleran habitats
near Putre. Chance to go
over ID's of birds seen on independent days. Overnight Putre.
Day 4: To Lauca Park with BK. Diademed Plover, Visit cushion bogs,
wetlands as described above. Optional visit to historic Parinacota.
Back to Putre for the night.
Day 5: Morning hiking, birding, etc. Guided or
unguided. Take bus down to Arica at 1:30 pm.
|
Day tour from Arica
(all low elevation)
This 1 day tour with BK concentrates on habitat around
Arica and nearby valleys. Sandy
and rocky beaches, watered valleys, estuary, hummingbird areas, olive
and banana plantations, introduction to native vegetation of
the Atacama Desert.
Includes optional harbor and boat trip or beach walks to seabird
roosts and historic guano collection sites. Good option for those
who have only 1 day to spend in Arica, or for those who prefer not to
ascend to higher elevations. Great for cruise ship travelers who
are tired of the same old "city tour" and would
prefer to have a private nature tour.
|
hummers!
|
|
|
