Birds in Chile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In these lakes, we observed Andean gull (Chroicocephalus serranus).

 

 

 

 

 

In this area, we observed a large number of coastal birds, including seaside cinclodes (Cinclodes nigrofumosus), band-tailed gull (Larus belcheri), grey gull (Leucophaeus modestus), black skimmer (Rynchops niger), and Peruvian pelican (Pelecanus thagus).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The valley is a green oasis in an otherwise dry area, dominated by vegetation of the large cactus species copao (Eulychnia acida). In this area, we observed variable hawk (Geranoaetus polyosoma), Chilean mockingbird (Mimus tenca), common diuca-finch (Diuca diuca), and southern lapwing (Vanellus chilensis).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The reserve is home to 7 out of the 10 species of southern beeches (Nothofagus) that occur in Chile, and also to several rare and threatened animals, including burrowing parrot (Cyanoliseus patagonus) and Molina’s hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus chinga). We only observed few bird species in this area, including white-throated treerunner (Pygarrhichas albogularis) and plumbeous sierra-finch (Geospizopsis unicolor).

 

 

 

 

 

Birdlife in these forests is not particularly rich. We observed Magellanic woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus), Chilean flicker (Colaptes pitius), slender-billed parakeet (Enicognathus leptorhynchus), common miner (Geositta cunicularia), rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis), and scale-throated earthcreeper (Upucerthia dumetaria).

In Laguna Captrén, a little jewel of a lake, we observed flying steamer duck (Tachyeres patachonicus), Chilean pintail (Anas georgica ssp. spinicauda), Andean duck (Oxyura ferruginea), white-winged coot (Fulica leucoptera), and ashy-headed goose (Chloephaga poliocephala).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the small Lago Chico, we observed a pair of bronze-winged ducks (Speculanas specularis) with ducklings.

 

 

 

 

 

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The family name is derived from the Latin accipiter (‘hawk’), from accipere (‘to grasp’), naturally alluding to the sharp talons.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek geranos (‘crane’) and aetos (‘eagle’). What the crane part refers to is hard to see.

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek polios (‘grey’) and soma (‘body’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek khloe (‘young green grass’) and phagein (‘to eat’).

 

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek polion (‘grey’) and kephale (‘head’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of the classical Greek word for swan, kyknos.

 

It has a length of up to 1.2 m, a wingspan of up to 1.7 m, and a weight of up to 8.7 kg.

The total number is unknown, but the population in Argentina is estimated at over 50,000 individuals.

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’) and koryphe (‘head’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin speculum (‘mirror’) and anas (‘duck’), the specific name also from speculum, both referring to the bronze-coloured speculum of this bird. The common name spectacled duck was given in reference to the large white patch in front of the eye. Locally, it is known as pato perro (‘dog-duck’), alluding to the harsh, barking call of the female.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of Ancient Greek kathartes (‘purifier’), referring to these birds getting rid of decomposing carcasses in nature.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘golden’, presumably alluding to the sometimes yellowish head of the two other members of the genus. Once upon a time, they were probably all regarded as a single species. The head of the turkey vulture is always red, similar to the colour of the head of the male turkey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek phengos (‘light’ or ‘glow’) and ornis (‘bird’), alluding to the splendour of this bird. The specific name was applied in honour of English zoologist David William Mitchell (1813-1859), who was secretary of the Zoological Society of London 1847-1859.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, diminutive of vannus (‘winnowing fan’), referring to the whirring sound, produced by the wings of the northern lapwing (V. vanellus) during courtship display.

The common name is derived from Old English hleapewince, of hleapan (‘to leap’) and wince (‘move rapidly’), likewise alluding to the courtship display of the northern lapwing, when the male twists and turns at a tremendous speed over the meadows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family was named from the elaborate, vaguely oven-like clay nest, built by the members of the genus Furnarius, called the horneros, derived from the Spanish horno (‘oven’).

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kinklos, a term used for some kind of waterside bird, and oides (‘resembling’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘brown’, presumably referring to the wing stripe.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin niger (‘black’) and fumosus (‘smoked’), from fumus (‘smoke’), thus ‘smoky-black’.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was given in honour of French zoologist Jean-Frédéric Émile Oustalet (1844-1905), among ornithologists known chiefly for his works Les Oiseaux de la Chine (1877), and Oiseaux du Cambodge, du Laos, de l’Annam et du Tonkin (1899).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek geo (‘earth’) and sitte (‘nuthatch’), thus ‘the ground-living nuthatch’, although these birds are not even distantly related to nuthatches. Presumably, the name was given in allusion to their nesting tunnels, as nuthatches breed in holes in tree trunks, the opening of which is often made smaller by the bird adding soil mixed with saliva, which hardens to a cement-like substance. Or maybe you have got a better explanation?

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘burrower’ or ‘miner’, derived from cuniculus (‘mine’).

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin rufus (‘red’) and penna (‘feather’), alluding to the rusty wingband.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek pyge (‘rump’) and arrhikhos (‘wicker basket’), alluding to the pattern on the undertail coverts. The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white-throated’.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from two other genus names, Upupa (hoopoe) and Certhia (treecreepers), presumably referring to the likeness of these birds to treecreepers, and to their feeding habits being similar to that of the hoopoe.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin dumetum (‘thicket’). Presumably, this bird is often found in thickets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek haima (‘blood’) and pous (‘foot’), alluding to the bright red feet of the Eurasian oystercatcher. The old English name of these birds was sea-pie (‘the pied one living at the sea’). They got their present name in 1731 by English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) who studied flora and fauna in the New World. He noticed that the American species (below) ate oysters.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin pallium (‘mantle’), perhaps referring to the brownish mantle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek khroizo (‘to colour’) and kephale (‘head’), alluding to the dark head of many of the species in the breeding season.

 

The specific name is derived from the Portuguese serra (‘mountain range’).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized version of Ancient Greek laros, the classical name for a kind of seabird.

 

The specific name was applied in honour of British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer Sir Edward Belcher (1799-1877) who performed survey work on the Pacific coast of South America.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was applied in reference to the Dominican Order of friars, who wear black and white robes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek leukos (‘white’) and phaios (‘dusky’), presumably referring to the dark wings and mantle and the white underside of the type species, the dolphin gull (L. scoresbii).

 

Presumably, the specific name refers to the largely grey plumage of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The 3 species are widely separated geographically, the black skimmer (below), which lives in the New World, the African skimmer (R. flavirostris), which is found in central and southern parts of Africa, and the Indian skimmer (R. albicollis), which is distributed in the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent and in Myanmar.

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek rhynkhos (‘bill’) and ops (‘appearance’), thus ‘having a prominent bill’. Incidentally, the correct spelling of the generic name is Rhynchops. However, when the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) described the black skimmer in 1755, he misspelt the name as Rynchops. According to the nomenclatoric rules, the first published name is the valid one.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘black’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Latin, meaning ‘to mimic’, applied due to the ability of these birds to mimic a wide variety of bird calls and other sounds.

 

The specific name refers to a local name of the bird, tenca.

 

 

 

 

 

For many years, they were placed with the Old World buntings in the family Emberizidae, but genetic research has shown that they form a monophyletic group of uncertain relationship with the buntings, and the family Passerellidae has been erected, originally established in 1851 as a subfamily, Passerellinae, by German ornithologist Jean Louis Cabanis (1816-1906).

New World sparrows are seed-eating birds with conical bills, comprising about 138 species in 30 genera, including some genera, which were formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae) (see below).

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek zone (‘band’) and thrix (‘hair’), alluding to the boldly streaked crown of most of the species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formerly, the 8 species were divided into two groups, one with 4 species, having mainly white adult plumage, the great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), the Dalmatian (P. crispus), the American white (P. erythrorhynchos), and the Australian (P. conspicillatus), and one, containing the remaining 4 species, having mainly grey or brown adult plumage, the pink-backed (P. rufescens), the spot-billed (P. philippensis), the brown (P. occidentalis), and the Peruvian (below).

However, recent DNA research has revealed that the 5 Old World species (great white, Dalmatian, pink-backed, spot-billed, and Australian) form one lineage, whereas the American white, the brown, and the Peruvian form another. The great white was the first to diverge from the common ancestor, which suggests that pelicans evolved in the Old World and later spread to the Americas.

The generic name is a Latinized form of the Classical Greek name of these birds, pelekanos.

Traditionally, pelicans were thought to be related to cormorants, darters, gannets, frigatebirds, and tropicbirds, but genetic research has shown that they form an order, Pelecaniformes, together with the shoebill (Balaeniceps rex), the hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), and herons. (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican)

Hamerkop and a number of heron species are presented on the page Fishing.

 

The specific name is a derivation of Chilean tagua, the term for coots (Fulica), erroneously applied to the Peruvian pelican.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numerous cormorant species are presented on the pages Fishing and Silhouettes.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek nannos (‘dwarf’) and pteron (‘wing’), alluding to the tiny wings of the flightless cormorant (N. harrisi).

 

 

 

 

 

 

It nests on steep coastal cliffs and rocky islets, and it is unique among cormorants in breeding singly, not in colonies. It occurs along the Pacific coast, from Peru southwards to southern Chile, and in the Santa Cruz Province, south-eastern Argentina.

The red-legged cormorant was until recently placed within the genus Phalacrocorax. The current generic name is derived from Ancient Greek poikilos (‘spotted’), and Carbo, a name applied to cormorants in 1799 by French naturalist Bernard Germain Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, count of Lacépède (1756-1825).

The specific name was given in honour of French naturalist and surgeon Joseph Paul Gaimard (1793-1858), who researched wildlife during several naval expeditions 1817-1840.

 

 

 

 

 

These birds all breed in large colonies in shallow saline lakes, where they build tall mud nests. They are famous for their remarkable ‘dance’, in which hundreds of birds march close together, turning their head this way and that.

Traditionally, the ibises and spoonbills, of the family Threskiornithidae, were considered the closest relatives of flamingos, but recent molecular studies have suggested that their closest relatives are grebes, however incongruous that may seem.

The common name is derived from the Spanish flamengo (‘flame-coloured’), alluding to the partly crimson plumage of these birds.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek phoinix (‘crimson’), pteron (‘feather’), and parra, which denotes a bird of ill omen. Why the last part was applied to these birds is hard to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, it was thought that this species had become extinct, until a remote population was discovered in 1956.

It was named in honour of British naturalist Harry Berkeley James (1846-1892), who studied the bird life of Chile 1867-1885. The alternative English name refers to Puna de Atacama, a high plateau in Chile, where this bird lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kampe (‘caterpillar’) and philos (‘loving’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is the classical Latin word for coot.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘ornamented with a bracelet’, like the common name alluding to the red ‘garters’ on its legs, contrasting with the yellowish-green feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has a green bill, slaty-grey head and breast, warm brown upperparts, and brown flanks with white spots.

The generic name is composed of the genus name Porphyrio (swamphens), and Ancient Greek ops (‘appearance’), thus ‘looking like a swamphen’.

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’), and ops, which usually means ‘appearance’, but may also mean ‘face’, thus ‘black-faced’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin recurvus (‘curved backwards’) and rostrum (‘bill’), referring to the up-curved bill of these birds, an adaptation to ‘skim’ the surface of the water in search of tiny animals. The common name probably derives from an old Italian word, avosetta, which, presumably, was the name of the pied avocet (R. avosetta).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Latin arena (‘sand’), thus ‘the one living in sand’. The English name refers to a feeding habit of these birds, flipping over sea shells and small stones to search for small invertebrates.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘interpreter’. It is in fact a misnomer. When Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) visited the island of Gotland in 1741, he learned that the local population used the word tolk for certain species of waders. In Swedish, tolk means ‘interpreter’, so he applied the name Tringa interpres to the turnstone. However, in the local dialect the word tolk means ‘legs’, alluding to the long red legs of the redshank (Tringa totanus).

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek kalidris, a term used by Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) for some grey-coloured water bird.

 

It spends the winter along shores in temperate, subtropical, and tropical areas, as far south as southern South America, South Africa, and Australia.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white’, referring to its white winter plumage. The popular name is derived from Old English sand-yrðling (‘sand-ploughman’), referring to its feeding habit, running along sandy shores while constantly sinking its bill into the sand in search of food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name commemorates Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-1887), who worked as naturalist and assistant secretary in the Smithsonian Institution.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Latinized form of the classical Greek name of these birds, noumenios. Both common English names are imitative, whimbrel imitating the trilling call of both whimbrels, curlew the call of the Eurasian curlew (N. arquata). The latter was first recorded by William Langland (1332-1386) in Piers Plowman, from the 1370s: “Fissch to lyue in þe flode..Þe corlue by kynde of þe eyre.”

 

The specific name refers to Hudson Bay in eastern Canada, a breeding site of this bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Greek mythology, the little owl (A. noctua) represented or accompanied Athene, the virgin goddess of wisdom. Because of this association, owls were often regarded as a symbol of knowledge and wisdom in the West.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘burrower’ or ‘miner’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek thinos (‘sand’) and korydos (‘lark’). The genus was instigated in 1829 by Baltic German physician and naturalist Johann Friedrich Gustav von Eschscholtz (1793-1831), when he described the least seedsnipe (T. rumicivorus), which does indeed look like a lark.

The specific name honours French naturalist and explorer Alcide Charles Victor Dessalines d’Orbigny (1802-1857) who collected specimens in South America 1826-1833. He returned to France with an enormous collection of more than 10,000 natural history specimens, describing part of his findings in La Relation du Voyage dans l’Amérique Méridionale pendant les annés 1826 à 1833 (Paris 1824-47).

 

 

 

 

 

Recent genetic studies have greatly re-arranged this family. A number of species formerly placed in the family have been moved to other families, but the opposite has also taken place.

 

The scientific names as well as the common name are the Araucano word for the bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is composed of the genus name Geospiza (ground-finches), and Ancient Greek opsis (‘appearance’), thus ‘resembling ground-finches’.

 

It is distributed from Venezuela southwards along the Andes to Tierra del Fuego.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is Ancient Greek, the name of an unidentified bird, mentioned by comic playwright Aristophanes (c. 446-386 B.C.).

 

The specific name commemorates French naturalist Claude Gay (1800-1873), in Spanish often named Claudio Gay, who carried out some of the first investigations of Chilean flora, fauna, geology, and geography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally, this family has been classified into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills. However, a recent genetic study concludes that spoonbills are closely related to the Old World ibises, whereas the New World ibises are an early offshoot. (Source: J.L. Ramirez, C.Y. Miyaki & S.N. del Lama 2013. Molecular phylogeny of Threskiornithidae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Genetics and Molecular Research 12 (3): 2740-2750)

 

The generic name name is derived from Ancient Greek theristikos (‘of reaping’), presumably alluding to the black-faced ibis (below) often being encountered in fields.

 

The black-faced ibis is found throughout most of central and southern Chile and Argentina, where it lives in grassy areas and farmland, from sea-level to an altitude of about 2,500 m. It also occurs in coastal Peru, but is now very rare there.

The specific name is derived from Ancient Greek melas (‘black’), and ops, which usually means ‘appearance’, but may also mean ‘face’, thus ‘black-faced’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name refers to Patagonia.

 

 

 

 

 

The tyrant part of their name goes back to English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) who studied flora and fauna in the New World. He labeled the eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) a ‘tyrant’, and this name was adopted by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), when he was classifying this group of birds. He greatly acknowledged Catesby’s work, so he named the family Tyrannidae.

 

The generic name is derived from two Old World genera, Muscicapa (flycatchers), and Saxicola (bushchats), alluding to their stance, which resembles that of bushchats, and to their food, which is similar to that of flycatchers.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘white-lored’, lore being the area between the bill and the eye.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin flavus (‘yellow’) and nuchus (‘nape’).