NW Argentina
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Cerro de los Siete Colores, Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sites of interest
Top target birds
- Rufous-throated Dipper
- Andean, Chilean, and James's Flamingos
- Ducks, coots, Horned Coot
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- Diademed Sandpiper-Plover (not always reliable)
- Burrowing Parakeet
Endemics or near-
- Wedge-tailed Hillstar
- Tucuman Mountain Finch
- Bare-eyed Ground Dove
- Yellow-striped Brushfinch
- Rufous-bellied Mountain Tanager
- Blue-capped Puffleg
- Cordoba and Olrog's Cinclodes
- Dinelli's Doradito
- Salinas Monjita
- Tucuman Amazon
- Yungas Guan
- Carbonated Sierra Finch
- Monte Yellow-Finch
Practical reasons for interest
- Variety of landscapes and elevations, great scenery
- Wine
Concerns
- Currency exchange
- Though this Dec 2025 trip report suggests that it may have stabilized? See what news coverage and local sources say?
- Meal times and lengths
- Some bad roads, far from civilization
- How long are these drives? See Robby's maxim, and gauge value in visiting Cordoba, Chaco, etc.
- Cordoba 7-hr drive from Tucuman
- How long are these drives? See Robby's maxim, and gauge value in visiting Cordoba, Chaco, etc.
- Extremely high altitudes
Itinerary thoughts
References
Trip reports
- Poulsen - Oct-Nov 2025
- McCloy - Dec-Jan 2023-2024
- Jansen - Oct-Nov 2023
- Matheve - Dec 2022
- Delforge - July 2022
- Branch - Jan 2022
- Gordijn - Dec 2018
Podcasts
- Naturally Adventurous - S6E27 - Argentina with Andres Vasquez
- Naturally Adventurous - S3E25-27 - Argentina Intro, Top birds 11-6, Top birds 5-1
- Chasing Feathers - 78-82 - Miramar, San Jose de las Salinas, Taffi del Valle, Rio Sosa & Yala NP, Laguna de los Pozuelos
Evaluation (preemptive)
- Birding quality - 4/5 - birds supposedly extremely reliable at territories with coordinates, unclear how fun or satisfying that might be. Lots of brown Furnariids and finches. But Yungas and waterbirds should be great.
- Logistical ease - 3/5 - Great information from numerous independent reports inspire confidence on site-finding and overall feasibility. But currency exchange, meal timing/length, and road quality could be major annoyances nearly every day.
- Landscapes - 5/5
- Culture - 4/5
- Bang-for-the-buck - 5/5 - relatively cheap flights, and on-the-ground cheap too (partly due to ongoing inflation and strength of USD)
- Overall - 4.2 - B-