Buenos Aires urban reserves and more...

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Buenos Aires is a mandatory destination for birdwatchers coming to Argentina, because here lies the main international airport, and therefore almost all the tours in the country start and/or end in this city. But this is a perfect opportunity to have a birding experience of a lifetime

The city itself has a lot to offer, and one of the world's best urban reserves for birding is Costanera Sur ecologic reserve. This amazing place is located very near downtown BA, and in only a half day tour it is possible to see dozens of species, very easily because they are used to having visitors around (it gets very crowded on weekends). It’s a place that MUST NOT be missed in a tour to this country. The official reserve’s list has over 300 species recorded, and it’s not hard to see over 50 species in a couple of hours (and lots more in a good day). It is specially good as a “South American starter” and also if you are not planning any more birding in the Pampas area or in the subtropical north part of the country, because then this would be your chance to adding lots of species that you will not find in the south of Argentina (ie: Patagonia and Antarctica). Swans, teals, pochards, 3 species of coots, woodrails, herons and bitterns are just some of the possibilities in this privileged place.

Another good spot for birding in the city is Vicente Lopez natural reserve. Much smaller than the previous one, it is very good particularly for some riverside forest species, and is probably one of the easiest places in the country for seeing Rufous-sided Crake with almost no effort (although it’s much easier if you go with one of our acknowledged guides, who knows the species behavior in the reserve).

Other good places in town include Ribera Norte and Costanera Norte natural reserves, plus some parks such as Tres de Febrero (usually referred as “Palermo’s park”).

If you have got more time for birding in this unexpectedly amazing area, you will never forget a tour to southern Entre Ríos, a real birding hotspot. Click here to read more about this place.

South east of Buenos Aires city there are good patches of Pampas grassland and rewarding estuaries for migratory waders and other birds such as flamingos and more in Samborombon bay area and Punta Rasa. Further south, it is possible to take a pelagic tour from the ports of Mar del Plata and Necochea, in order to find some exciting birds such as albatrosses, giant-petrels and more. Not far away from there, in the austral winter, it’s possible to find three species of geese that visit us from southern Patagonia, one of them (Ruddy-headed Goose) being critically endangered for its declining continental population (it could be a split from the one in the Malvinas/Falklands in the near future, as DNA research suggests).

For all this, Buenos Aires region should not be skipped, as it could be one of the highlights of your trip to Argentina.

For more information about birding and nature watching in Buenos Aires and surroundings, please visit our sister webstite Birding Buenos Aires.

RECOMMENDED TOURS

- Birding Costanera Sur Reserve – Half day tour
- Punta Rasa & Samborombon Bay – 3 days/2 nights