El Calafate or Iguazu Falls (1 Viewer)

[Big Den]

Looking for some advice, got a week in early February 2022 before heading on a cruise to Antarctica and wondered which of the above would be best and give you the most birds. Having never been to South America, mostly everything is going to be new for me so totally undecided what to do.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Calafate has easy birding in and around the city, including Magellanic Plover; however there will be species you should also see on the cruise. I haven’t been to Iguacu, but it should give you a much longer and more different species list. Do you want a clean up of the south (Calafate, but you will still miss lots) or two different areas, both of which you may want to return to?

 

[Big Den]

Calafate has easy birding in and around the city, including Magellanic Plover; however there will be species you should also see on the cruise. I haven’t been to Iguacu, but it should give you a much longer and more different species list. Do you want a clean up of the south (Calafate, but you will still miss lots) or two different areas, both of which you may want to return to?

I know there will be birds in El Calafate that I could score later on the cruise but we are obviously time restricted on the stop offs and Andean Condor is probably my most sought-after bird. On saying that, the lure of Toco Toucans at Iguazu Falls is just as tempting.
Taking the cruise out of the equation, if I just had the one week, would I see more at El Calafate or Iguazu?

Cheers

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

I would have thought Iguazu, but individual species would be more difficult. Calafate has open country birding but fewer species. I didn’t see Condor there, but equally wasn’t searching for them having seen them further North.

 

[opisska]

There is probably more species just around Iguazu than in the entire Patagonia, the diversity of the rainforest is just on another level - and there are sites around, not just the park itself. On the other hand Calafate is surely nice (I haven't been right there, but in similar places around) and has the nice aspect of access to two starkly different habitats - the open plains and the Magellanic forest - but it's quite far south and inland, so one can't really expect that much diversity down there, also considering that the plains are a semi-desert rain-wise already close to the mountains.

Where are you headed to the cruise from, BA? If so, you could also consider an itinerary similar to that which Andy has recently shown from some tour offering, where you also do some time around BA (mostly Ceibas area probably), because that has a lot of very different species from both Iguazu and Patagonia.

 

[fbeeldens]

Looking for some advice, got a week in early February 2022 before heading on a cruise to Antarctica and wondered which of the above would be best and give you the most birds. Having never been to South America, mostly everything is going to be new for me so totally undecided what to do.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

I checked my notes and we had Andean Condor both at El Chalten and at the Los Glaciares Park part reached from El Calafate. Don't have much to add to what the prior posters provided. Species list will be much more limited around El Calafate, though there's certainly some really cool ones.

 

[Andy Adcock]

I know there will be birds in El Calafate that I could score later on the cruise but we are obviously time restricted on the stop offs and Andean Condor is probably my most sought-after bird. On saying that, the lure of Toco Toucans at Iguazu Falls is just as tempting.
Taking the cruise out of the equation, if I just had the one week, would I see more at El Calafate or Iguazu?

Cheers

If it's purely numbers you want, it will be Iguazu but there are lots of things there that are widely available there whereas the Patagonian stuff is very specialised and you won't bump in to them anywhere else.

What do you think we'll see on the cruise, that we'll also see at El Calafate? There are things on the Falklands that are endemic races and the way taxonomy is moving in regard to isolated, island species, some of these could end up split?

 

[Big Den]

There is probably more species just around Iguazu than in the entire Patagonia, the diversity of the rainforest is just on another level - and there are sites around, not just the park itself. On the other hand Calafate is surely nice (I haven't been right there, but in similar places around) and has the nice aspect of access to two starkly different habitats - the open plains and the Magellanic forest - but it's quite far south and inland, so one can't really expect that much diversity down there, also considering that the plains are a semi-desert rain-wise already close to the mountains.

Where are you headed to the cruise from, BA? If so, you could also consider an itinerary similar to that which Andy has recently shown from some tour offering, where you also do some time around BA (mostly Ceibas area probably), because that has a lot of very different species from both Iguazu and Patagonia.

Thanks for that. If its Andy Lawson that you are referring to having put a post out with an offer, its Andy that I'm going with. He is wanting to do Patagonia for a week before we head on the cruise from BA. I think some guys were looking at doing Iguazu and others down at El Calafate but I have never done South America and wanted to get the most out of the week.
So, it sounds like Iguazu Falls area has far more to offer by the sounds of it.

 

[Andy Adcock]

I checked my notes and we had Andean Condor both at El Chalten and at the Los Glaciares Park part reached from El Calafate. Don't have much to add to what the prior posters provided. Species list will be much more limited around El Calafate, though there's certainly some really cool ones.

If it's a numbers v scarcity/ quality, there's only one winner.

I'm keen to see as much new stuff as possible but I'm also aware that this is a great opportunity to see some species, that I won't get the chance of again for this price!

 

[Big Den]

If it's purely numbers you want, it will be Iguazu but there are lots of things there that are widely available whereas the Patagonian stuff is very specialised and you won't bump in to them anywhere else.

What do you think we'll see on the cruise, that we'll also see at El Calafate? There are things on the Falklands that are endemic races and the way taxonomy is moving in regard to isolated, island species, some of these could end up split?

Thanks a lot for that Andy 👍

 

[DMW]

Doesn't the cruise have stop-offs in Ushuaia and Puntas Arenas? If so, I'd suggest trying to hire a local bird guide with a van at each destination and try to maximise your time ashore at these locations. You can see a decent number of Patagonian birds in even a few hours as it's generally open habitat. I saw condor and white-bellied seedsnipe just outside Ushuaia.

On this basis, if variety is important to you, Iguazu is going to be far more productive.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Happy to share a Calafate list from Nov 2019 if anyone wants one.

 

[tittletattler]

Happy to share a Calafate list from Nov 2019 if anyone wants one.

Yes please!

Could you email it to [email protected]??


Our stop overs at Ushuaia and Puntas Arenas etc are very time limited. We have 7 hours at Ushuaia but note the cruise ship states that 4 hours of that are taken up by disembarking/embarking. The rep at NCL said that we can probably cut some time off of that by queuing early, but even so, it's fraught with potential issues including guides not showing up etc. If we try to do too much during our stops, we are likely to be disappointed when things don't go our way. This is a tourist cruise, after all, and not a birding cruise so it's geared towards people who want to stretch their legs for a bit and bimble between bars/restaurants rather than bird race between ticks.

Matt Eade's list suggests that most species seen at El Calafate/ El Chaten aren't seen at Tierra Del Fuego. As such, a Patagonia extension is best for me as I'd rather share (expensive) car hire costs targeting species in a part of the World that I'm already visiting. Note that very few Patagonian species are on the Falklands: If we do Volunteer Point, which we should, then there will only be an hour or two for other species.

 

[fbeeldens]

Yes please!

Could you email it to [email protected]??


Our stop overs at Ushuaia and Puntas Arenas etc are very time limited. We have 7 hours at Ushuaia but note the cruise ship states that 4 hours of that are taken up by disembarking/embarking. The rep at NCL said that we can probably cut some time off of that by queuing early, but even so, it's fraught with potential issues including guides not showing up etc. If we try to do too much during our stops, we are likely to be disappointed when things don't go our way. This is a tourist cruise, after all, and not a birding cruise so it's geared towards people who want to stretch their legs for a bit and bimble between bars/restaurants rather than bird race between ticks.

Matt Eade's list suggests that most species seen at El Calafate/ El Chaten aren't seen at Tierra Del Fuego. As such, a Patagonia extension is best for me as I'd rather share (expensive) car hire costs targeting species in a part of the World that I'm already visiting. Note that very few Patagonian species are on the Falklands: If we do Volunteer Point, which we should, then there will only be an hour or two for other species.

If you'd like an additional list I can provide mine from 2016 as well.

 

[tittletattler]

If you'd like an additional list I can provide mine from 2016 as well.

Also yes please!

 

[fbeeldens]

Also yes please!

I'll send the file through this evening. It'll contain more than El Calafate and El Chalten, but all observations are by site.

 

[birdclub]

If you never been in South America before, Iguazu area has a lot to offer (not only the amazing falls, certainly the world´s largest!) but the amazing Atlantic rainforest and its myriads of birds, from hummingbirds (at the hummingbird garden attending the feeders) to colorful green-headed tanagers, trogons, several woodcreepers (study them before!), blond-crested woodpecker and many others such as the ochre-collared piculet and yes the antbirds! If you stay at the 600 area (600 hectares of pristine rainforest where several hotels are located, birding will be from your room window! and night birding will be easy too with chances for tropical screech-owl, gray potoo, pauraque and other nightjars. The falls itself are an spectacle not to be missed.

Devote at least three nights there with two full days to visit the National Park (1 day), Urugua-í State Park (1 day), the hummingbird garden (1 afternoon), the Ruta 101 (1 morning).

Day 1 - Arrival at Puerto Iguazu, leave you stuff in the hotel and bird the adjacent area and if time allows visit the hummingbird garden. Owling.
Day 2 - Full day at the National Park, AM birding the Macuco trail, have lunch the barbeque restaurant and afternoon visit the falls.
Day 3 - Full day at Urugua-í State Park. To visit the area requires a 60km drive go and the same back. You can stay as long as possible there, you can take a lunch box or return to the small town of Puerto Esperanza to have lunch and then back to Puerto Iguazu and use the afternoon to visit the hummingbird garden in case your connection was not good the first day.
Day 4 - Birding the Ruta 101, back for breakfast at hotel and then go to the airport. If you flight is at afternoon, you can even consider to cross the border and visit the Brazilian side of the falls.

This is a teaser video from what you can see in a tour like this, certainly you can see far more species than you can film or photograph

 

[YuShan]

I have not been to Iguazu yet, but I guess it has a lot more species because it is rainforest. But I have been to El Calafate, visited El Chalten, Hiked Torres del Paine, sailed on the Beagle Channel, etc. Solo, low budget backpacking.

If you are really short of time, you can see quite a lot in the wetland just outside El Calafate.

Btw: I have a trip report (not just birding). It might give you some ideas for your own adventure

Patagonia – Hiking Birdman

www.hikingbirdman.com

 

[Alco]

I would consider the Esteros del Iberá region for birding. Check out YouTube and you will understand. These marshlands are a lot less exploited than Iguazú, though the later is obviously an extremely spectacular place with views out of this world... But zillions of other tourists have also realised that (less now with the pandemic of course) and those awful nature-disturbing Brazilian helicopters (mostly touring rich but disrespectful americans) scare off a lot of birds since many years.

If you are into wine and vineyard tourism you might consider Mendoza near the Andes where Condors may be seen as well.

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi Alco!

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