Chile Ramsar wetland
Salar de Tara
42 bird species recorded; the most in January.
Carlos Urzua · CC BY 2.0
This month here
34 species in January.21 species in February.29 species in March.12 species in April.25 species in May.17 species in June.18 species in July.0 species in August.3 species in September.21 species in October.22 species in November.24 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
NT
VU
NT
NT
NTNTVU
NTNTVU
NTNTNTVU
VUNTNTNo records for this month.
VUNTVUNTVUNTNTNTVUNTNTNT- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
42 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 42Speciesrecorded more than once
- 16Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 2ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 551Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 4,316 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 8Waders
- 1Gulls & seabirds
- 4Ducks & geese
- 1Herons, ibises & grebes
- 3Flamingos
- 21Songbirds
- 4Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 42 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Waders8 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Andean AvocetRecurvirostra andina
- Baird's SandpiperCalidris bairdii
- Grey-breasted SeedsnipeThinocorus orbignyianus
- Diademed Sandpiper-PloverPhegornis mitchelliiNT
- Wilson's PhalaropePhalaropus tricolor
- Rufous-bellied SeedsnipeAttagis gayi
- Lesser yellowlegsTringa flavipesVU
- Pectoral SandpiperCalidris melanotos
Gulls & seabirds1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Andean GullChroicocephalus serranus
Ducks & geese4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Crested duckLophonetta specularioides
- Andean GooseChloephaga melanoptera
- Puna TealSpatula puna
- Yellow-billed TealAnas flavirostris
Herons, ibises & grebes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Southern Silvery GrebePodiceps occipitalis
Flamingos3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- James's FlamingoPhoenicoparrus jamesiNT
- Andean FlamingoPhoenicoparrus andinusVU
- Chilean flamingoPhoenicopterus chilensisNT
Songbirds21 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Puna MinerGeositta punensis
- Cordilleran CanasteroAsthenes modesta
- Red-backed Sierra FinchIdiopsar dorsalis
- Plumbeous Sierra FinchGeospizopsis unicolor
- Black-hooded Sierra FinchPhrygilus atriceps
- Black SiskinSpinus atratus
- Rufous-naped Ground-TyrantMuscisaxicola rufivertex
- White-winged CinclodesCinclodes atacamensis
- Ash-breasted Sierra FinchGeospizopsis plebejus
- Blue-and-white SwallowNotiochelidon cyanoleuca
- Bar-winged cinclodesCinclodes fuscus
- Ochre-naped Ground-tyrantMuscisaxicola flavinucha
- Andean NegritoLessonia oreas
- Black-billed Shrike-tyrantAgriornis montanus
- Spot-billed Ground-tyrantMuscisaxicola maculirostris
- Plain-mantled Tit-spinetailLeptasthenura aegithaloides
- Sicalis uropigyalisSicalis uropigyalis
- Puna Ground-tyrantMuscisaxicola juninensis
- Upucerthia ruficaudusUpucerthia ruficaudus
- Rufous-collared SparrowZonotrichia capensis
- White-banded MockingbirdMimus triurus
Other birds4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Puna TinamouTinamotis pentlandii
- Lesser RheaRhea pennata
- Horned CootFulica cornutaNT
- Golden-spotted Ground-doveMetriopelia aymara
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in January.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan14°/-3°38 mm
- Feb13°/-3°34 mm
- Mar12°/-4°24 mm
- Apr9°/-6°7 mm
- May5°/-7°2 mm
- Jun4°/-8°1 mm
- Jul4°/-9°1 mm
- Aug5°/-8°1 mm
- Sep7°/-7°1 mm
- Oct10°/-6°7 mm
- Nov12°/-5°10 mm
- Dec14°/-4°30 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Salar de Tara.
Salt pan and ramsar area in Chile
Salar de Tara is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Chile, 4,316 m above the sea.
42 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 551 open records.
The most recorded are the James's Flamingo, the Puna Miner and the Crested duck.
13 species come for the summer, 2 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
2 are threatened worldwide, including Andean Flamingo and Lesser yellowlegs.
The most species are recorded in January.
Get there and watch
- El Loa Airport (CJC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 174 km in a straight lineCar hire at CJC airport (Calama)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 1viewpoints within 5 kmsalar de tara
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- campsites within 10 km
- places to stay within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Salar de Tara.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas4 mountains within 25 kmCerro Aguas Calientes · 12 kmCerro Negro · 12 kmCerro Losloyo · 15 kmPacana Caldera4,500 m · 20 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Salar de Tara
Chile
- 40Birdyas Score
- 42Species
- 16Migrants
- 2Threatened
Los Flamencos National Reserve
Chile · 18 km
- 34Birdyas Score
- 27Species
- 10Migrants
- 1Threatened
Soncor hydrological system in Salar de Atacamar
Chile · 94 km
- 41Birdyas Score
- 44Species
- 18Migrants
- 2Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q14540976) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 551 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Darkskyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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birdwatching
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