The Gran Chaco (or simply, "Chaco"), is a sparsely populated plain in central South America, known for its hot, semi-arid environment. It doesn't refer to one particular ecosystem, but rather, it includes a number of different types of forest, scrub, savannah and grassland. Most of the Gran Chaco occurs in north-central Argentina and western Paraguay, with bits extending into southeastern Bolivia and southwestern Brazil. Neither Laura or I had ever visited the Gran Chaco before, but this region will feature prominently over the next few weeks.
January 14, 2023
An area of excellent quality scrubby Chaco forest is found in the area around Capilla del Monte and so Laura and I planned for a morning birding excursion. It is imperative that these sites are visited early since the temperatures ramp up quickly, shutting down bird activity.
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| House Wren - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
Our destination was the trail leading to Cerro Uritorco. The elusive Black-bodied Woodpecker had been reported from here. This Chaco specialist has been declining over most of its range, and it is currently listed as Near-Threatened.
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| Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
Bird activity was excellent during the early morning hours and we quickly found a pair of White-tipped Plantcutters, a species of cotinga (Cotingidae).
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| White-tipped Plantcutter (female) - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| White-tipped Plantcutter (male) - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
Several new species for us made appearances in short succession, including a dapper pair of Brown-capped Redstarts. This species is associated more with lower montane forest in northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia, but it can be found in this Chaco scrub forest, too.
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| Brown-capped Redstart - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
Our first Many-colored Chaco Finch was a welcome addition, and a representative bird of this region. This species can be downright abundant in suitable habitat, but you never forget your first. It wasn't until the next day that I was able to obtain a good photograph, though.
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| Many-colored Chaco Finch - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
We heard our first Crested Gallito and Short-billed Canasteros as well. The gallito remained hidden but the pair of canasteros flew in to check us out.
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| Short-billed Canastero - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| Short-billed Canastero - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
White-barred Piculet was our last lifer of the morning. The views kept getting better and better with each successive individual.
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| White-barred Piculet - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
We walked for around two kilometers before turning around and heading back to the car. Due to the topography of the area, we were in shade for the entire walk out, while the sun was at our backs for the return journey. That worked out well!
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| Chiguanco Thrush - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
Unfortunately, the Black-bodied Woodpecker was a no-show. That being said, we had a thoroughly enjoyable excursion and returned to our hotel at 10 AM for a late breakfast.
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| Ultramarine Grosbeak (female) - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| Swainson's Flycatcher - Cerro Uritorco, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
The sun was high in the sky once we left the hotel. We decided to investigate a nearby human-made lake called Lago El Cajón. The dam area was home to a pair of Cliff Flycatchers, giving us our best views ever of that species.
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| Cliff Flycatcher - Lago El Cajón, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
We poked around for another hour or so, seeing what waterbirds we could scope on the lake. Nothing exceptional could be found, though I enjoyed panning through the half-dozen species of ducks, all three coots, three species of grebes and a few shorebirds. By midday, we were on our way north again.
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| Green Kingfisher - Lago El Cajón, Capilla del Monte, Córdoba, Argentina |
Laura and I had some difficulty acquiring a hotel room in the town of Deán Funes, evidently because a festival of some sort was going on in the next town south of us. But we finally succeeded with a small, basic motel that fit our budget (and included air conditioning, wifi and hot water). Feeling a little restless, I headed out on my own to an area 45 minutes north of here. After all, the 14 hour days ensure that there is always a chance for evening birding.
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| Our rental car at Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
A massive salt lake, the appropriately-named Lago Salinas Grande, is one of only a few lakes in central Argentina where the Salinas Monjita can be found. It was once considered to be a subspecies of Rusty-backed Monjita until, presumably, someone took a closer look at them and realized that they had distinctive plumage and were restricted to a very specific habitat, unlike the migratory Rusty-backed Monjitas further south. The Salinas Monjita can only be found in low scrub, especially Salicornia bushes, at the fringes of several saline lakes, including Lago Salinas Grande.
Laura and I had plans to bird this lake the next morning but, fearing that I might miss the monjita, I wanted to give myself two cracks at it. This was a good decision as I enjoyed a very productive evening of birding, despite the very hot temperatures.
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| Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
My first priority was to search for the monjita and so I drove through the high-quality Chaco scrub, forcing myself to keep going, lest I get distracted by the other potential lifers found here. There would be time for them later.
My search for the monjita was short-lived as I found an individual not five minutes after I began my walk!
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| Salinas Monjita - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
The bird was not at all shy and didn't seem to mind my presence. This gave me a chance for some mouth-watering photos - I was in heaven!
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| Salinas Monjita - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| Salinas Monjita - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
With the main target out of the way, I returned to the scrub beside the entrance road and along some side-trails. I enjoyed teasing the various species out of the woodwork, making note to keep track of where each species was to ensure that I could re-find them with Laura in the morning.
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| Patagonian Mockingbird - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
Brushland Tinamous were vocalizing from all around, and one even ran across the road in front of me. Other highlights were my first encounters with Crested Hornero, Suiriri Flycatcher, Tufted Tit-Spinetail, and Black-crested Finch.
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| Suiriri Flycatcher - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| Crested Hornero - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| Tufted Tit-Spinetail - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
I was particularly enthused with the Black-crested Finch, as it is a beautiful species that we wouldn't have very many more chances at. Luckily, they appeared to be fairly common here and I tallied at least five individuals.
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| Black-crested Finch - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| Black-crested Finch - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
A surprise was in store during the drive back to Deán Funes at dusk: a Scissor-tailed Nightjar, in flight beside the road!
January 15, 2023
Laura and I returned to Lago Salinas Grande for a morning of birding. We headed straight out to the edge of the salt lake, hoping for comparable success with the monjita.
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| Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
The monjita really made us work for it this time but we eventually succeeded with excellent, close encounters with three different individuals.
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| Salinas Monjita - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| Salinas Monjita - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
This lizard was scampering between the scattered bushes on the salt flats. It is one of the notoriously difficult to identify Liolaemus species. I think that this is Liolaemus chacoensis, sometimes called the Chaco Smooth-throated Lizard.
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| Liolaemus chacoensis - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
Due to the extended monjita search, the day was already quite warm by the time that we left the sweltering open salt flats and returned to the relative comfort of the scrub where the occasional shrubby tree was of sufficient height to provide shade. We quickly went from one spot to the next, extracting the birds out of the shrubs. Most of my "stake-outs" from the previous evening cooperated.
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| Suiriri Flycatcher - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
We found quite a few birds that I had not seen the previous evening, including White-winged Black-Tyrant, Red-crested Finch, Peregrine Falcon, Southern Scrub-Flycatcher, Spot-backed Puffbird and Fulvous-crowned Scrub-Tyrant.
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| White-winged Black-Tyrant - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| Spot-backed Puffbird - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
We noticed this adorable little cavy alongside the road, which I believe is the Lowland Yellow-toothed Cavy (Galea leucoblephara). Cavies are a type of rodent, most closely related to capybaras, and then a little more distantly to agoutis. The domestic guinea pig is a type of cavy.
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| Lowland Yellow-toothed Cavy - |
Time was running out and we needed to get moving to our next destination. But, we were still without one of our most-wanted birds for the site, the Spot-winged Falconet. I checked one final site and luck was on our side. What a way to finish an excellent few visits to this unique area.
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| Spot-winged Falconet - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
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| Spot-winged Falconet - Lago Salinas Grande, Córdoba, Argentina |
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