Types of birds in Torres del Paine

In and Around Torres del Paine there are 105 Species of Bird. Here, we mention 13 of the more common species.

Rheas / Ñandu

This bird looks like a small ostrich and that is because it is part of the same family of the African ostrich. The Rhea is a flightless bird that lives in the Southern Cone of South America. It is smaller than the typical ostrich measuring 1.5m to 1.8m in height and has three claws on each foot, while the ostrich has only two.

It can be seen in various places of Torres del Paine, especially in the eastern sector. They group together to form large “herds” in search of fruits, insects and reptiles for food. Although it has small wings, which it will flap, the bird cannot fly, but can run at a fair speed, up to 80km per hour, for example, to escape predators and can swim if it needs to cross a river.

Black-Neck Swans / Cisne de Cuello Negro

The Black-Neck swan says exactly what this bird is. In other words, a swan with a white body, and black-coloured head and neck. It inhabits lagoons, lakes and coastal waters. They feed on algae, aquatic plants, and sometimes on insects. As it floats on the surface of the water, where it lives for most of its time, rarely venturing on to the land, water gets filtered through its beak when it submerges its neck and head in search of the food it is seeking. These birds can be seen on many lagoons and lakes in the Park as well as by the shoreline at Puerto Natales.

Austral Parrot / Cachaña

The Austral Parrot, or Parakeet, inhabits the area from Torres del Paine down to the Tierra del Fuego, and is only found in this southern tip of South America. It is mostly green in colour with some red on the underbelly. Usually found in wooded areas, especially the Nothofagus forests and semi-open areas close to wooded sectors, often flocking together with other Parakeets that fly from tree-to-tree and swoop down as a group.

It feeds on seeds, fruits, sprouts, berries, and bulbous roots. It has a similar appearance in colour to the Choroy, but the Cachaña is smaller, with a hooked, short beak. This is the southern-most parrot in the World.

Flamingo / Flamenco Chileno

The Flamingo can be found in Patagonia and the Atacama Desert in northern Chile as well as Chiloe Island. Its usual habitat is that of shallow lakes, lagoons, muddy coastal areas and river mouths. Typically, it will be 1.1m to 1.3m in height, with a pretty pink plumage with darker pink near its tail. The beak is quite large, curved downward at the end, coloured black at the end part, but a lighter colour closer to the bird’s head. The tall, thin legs are straight except for the tarsal joint about halfway down. Eyes are yellow. It feeds mainly on algae and plankton. Typically it will have its head submerged under water and move it side to side whilst moving slowly on its feet in order to disturb the sediment and release its food, which is then filtered through its beak.

Flamingos can be seen in some of the lakes and lagoons in Torres del Paine as well as on a couple of water stretches beside the road from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales.

Ducks / Pato Anteojillo

This is a common duck that lives amid humid forests, usually not too far from a river. It is a large bird, with a height of around 55cm and weight of 1kg. It has white lines under each eye that look like it is wearing a pair of glasses, and also a white patch on its neck.

It will make a squawk sound, which is more like a bark. An omnivorous bird that feeds on seeds, herbs and insects, which is forages on the banks of rivers.

Merganetta Armata / Pato Corta Corriente

This duck, grows up to 46cm in length and is found along the length of the Andes from northern Chile down to Tierra del Fuego. It has a slender, but strong body, living exclusively in very fast-flowing rivers. It does not fly much and is more adept at flowing against the strong current of a river, resting where it can on a rock. It feeds on vegetables, small fish, larvae, worms and crustaceans.

Magellan Goose / Caiquen - Chloephaga Picta

The Caiquen goose is one of the most prevalent throughout the Magallenes and Aysen areas of Chile. The male has a white head, and breast but dark plumage on its wings, whereas the female has a brown neck and body. Each has black-stripped wings. Typically, in size both male and female grow to around 73cm in height. It lives in open plains where there is lots of grass to eat and nests both in low-lying areas, on plateaus and hills taking advantage of any natural holes or depressions in the ground, usually close to lagoons, rivers or estuaries. It will line the nest with its own, soft feathers.

There are usually many of these geese around the Serrano village, which is the western sector of Torres del Paine, the other side of the Serrano River.

Fish Martin / Martín Pescador

The Fish Martin lives in lakes, lagoons, estuaries, rivers and in calm water surrounded by trees. It mainly feeds on fish, hence its name, and grows up to 20cm in length, but sometimes consumes frogs, insects and crabs. It is easy to identify because it has a blue coloured body, red chest and white line on its neck and is generally found on the branches of trees on the edge of rivers and lakes. It also has a long beak.

Magellan Woodpecker / Carpintero Magallanico

The Magellan Woodpecker usually inhabits to area of Tierra del Fuego, up to the middle of Patagonia, living mainly in native forest areas. It is a large for a woodpecker, up to 45cm in height, completely black in colour except for red feathers that surround the beak, if female; and the male with a bright red head, crest, throat and neck making it impossible to confuse with any other woodpecker.

It will eat worms, larvae and insects, which it will extract from tree bark by “hammering” on the tree with is beak.

Buff-Necked Ibis / Bandurria

This bird, reaching a height of around 75cm is found from Antofagasta in the far north of Chile down to the Tierra del Fuego, living mainly in swampy areas and on the shores of lakes and lagoons.

Its main feature is its elongated, black, curved, downward beak. It feeds on toads, tadpoles, insects and other small animals found on the shores of lakes, ponds or reservoirs. However, it is sometimes spotted in freshly- ploughed fields.

Patagonian Sierra Finch / Phrygilus Patagonicus / Cometocino Patagónico

This bird is found in the area between La Serena, in the north of Chile, down to Tierra del Fuego and can often be spotted on heavily vegetated slopes and gorges where there are seed bushes and rocky ledges.

It is between 15 – 16cm in height and has an orange-coloured tint on its back, which distinguishes it from the Cometocio de Gay species. It feeds on grass seeds and arthropods, fruit and flower nectar, often getting tree sap from the holes that a woodpecker has made.

Cinclodes Patagonicus / Churrete Comun

This bird lives in the southern part of Chile, from Tierra del Fuego to the Gulf of Penas. It can be seen in the canals near the coasts, as well as in the hills and plains, but also near towns and hamlets.

It measures between 18 and 20 cm in height and weighs between 37 and 54 grams. Its bill, legs and dorsal are a dark brown, and with a white line on its head. It feeds on invertebrates, insects, crustaceans and mollusks.

Leistes Loyca / Loica Comun

This bird lives in the area from the Atacama Desert in northern Chile down to the Magallanes in the Patagonia far south.

It prefers to live close to the earth, ideally on humid soil, but is also found in the mountains at around 2,500 meters. It has a length of 28cm. The males and female are different in appearance. The male head and neck are a dark brown, with a white line with a touch of red towards the forehead. Its tail, back and bottom, are a dark brown and the front part of his neck, chest and upper abdomen is hot-red colour. It has a pointed, dark-brown bill.

The female has different colouring on its throat and neck, which are white, and the the breast and abdomen are a pale red.

They feed on insects, fruits and seeds. The Loyca is easy to recognize by its characteristic red breast and can be found alone or in pairs. In winter they tend to gather in flocks.