Chile Ramsar wetland
Salar del Huasco National Park
72 bird species recorded; the most in March and in October.
Freddy Alexander Bugueño Tolmo · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
39 species in January.38 species in February.51 species in March.22 species in April.42 species in May.27 species in June.35 species in July.27 species in August.37 species in September.54 species in October.36 species in November.21 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.
VU
NT
NT
VUNTNT
NT
VUNT
VU
NT
NTVUNT
NTNT
VUNTVU
NTNTVUNTNTVUNT
NTNTVU
NTVUNTNTVUNTNTVUNT- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
72 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).
- 72Speciesrecorded more than once
- 28Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 3ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 2,615Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 3,781 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 5Raptors
- 1Owls
- 9Waders
- 1Gulls & seabirds
- 5Ducks & geese
- 3Herons, ibises & grebes
- 3Flamingos
- 33Songbirds
- 12Other 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 72 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Buteo polyosomaButeo polyosoma
- Aplomado FalconFalco femoralis
- Andean CondorVultur gryphusVU
- Cinereous HarrierCircus cinereus
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Burrowing OwlAthene cunicularia
Waders9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Grey-breasted SeedsnipeThinocorus orbignyianus
- Andean AvocetRecurvirostra andina
- Baird's SandpiperCalidris bairdii
- Andean LapwingVanellus resplendens
- Puna SnipeGallinago andina
- Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleucaNT
- Lesser yellowlegsTringa flavipesVU
- Wilson's PhalaropePhalaropus tricolor
- Tawny-throated DotterelOreopholus ruficollis
Gulls & seabirds1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Andean GullChroicocephalus serranus
Ducks & geese5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Andean GooseChloephaga melanoptera
- Crested duckLophonetta specularioides
- Yellow-billed TealAnas flavirostris
- Puna TealSpatula puna
- Yellow-billed PintailAnas georgica
Herons, ibises & grebes3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Puna IbisPlegadis ridgwayi
- Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
- Southern Silvery GrebePodiceps occipitalis
Flamingos3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- James's FlamingoPhoenicoparrus jamesiNT
- Andean FlamingoPhoenicoparrus andinusVU
- Chilean flamingoPhoenicopterus chilensisNT
Songbirds33 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Andean NegritoLessonia oreas
- Puna MinerGeositta punensis
- Black-hooded Sierra FinchPhrygilus atriceps
- Cordilleran CanasteroAsthenes modesta
- Ash-breasted Sierra FinchGeospizopsis plebejus
- Bar-winged cinclodesCinclodes fuscus
- Rufous-naped Ground-TyrantMuscisaxicola rufivertex
- Sicalis uropigyalisSicalis uropigyalis
- Black-billed Shrike-tyrantAgriornis montanus
- White-winged CinclodesCinclodes atacamensis
- Plumbeous Sierra FinchGeospizopsis unicolor
- Puna Ground-tyrantMuscisaxicola juninensis
- Greenish Yellow-finchSicalis olivascens
- Black SiskinSpinus atratus
- Blue-and-white SwallowNotiochelidon cyanoleuca
- Upucerthia ruficaudusUpucerthia ruficaudus
- Cinnamon-bellied Ground-TyrantMuscisaxicola capistratus
- Anthus correnderaAnthus correndera
- Ochre-naped Ground-tyrantMuscisaxicola flavinucha
- Grayish MinerGeositta maritima
- Buff-breasted EarthcreeperUpucerthia validirostris
- Mourning Sierra FinchRhopospina fruticeti
- Spot-billed Ground-tyrantMuscisaxicola maculirostris
- Creamy-breasted CanasteroAsthenes dorbignyi
- Rufous-collared SparrowZonotrichia capensis
- Yellow-rumped SiskinSpinus uropygialis
- Dark-faced Ground-TyrantMuscisaxicola maclovianus
- Plain-mantled Tit-spinetailLeptasthenura aegithaloides
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- White-fronted Ground TyrantMuscisaxicola albifrons
- Streaked Tit-SpinetailLeptasthenura striata
- Canyon CanasteroAsthenes pudibunda
- Cinereous ConebillConirostrum cinereum
Other birds12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Lesser RheaRhea pennata
- Slate-colored CootFulica ardesiaca
- Puna TinamouTinamotis pentlandii
- Golden-spotted Ground-doveMetriopelia aymara
- Southern Andean FlickerColaptes rupicola
- Andean HillstarOreotrochilus estella
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- Giant CootFulica gigantea
- Giant HummingbirdPatagona gigas
- Andean SwiftAeronautes andecolus
- Spot-winged PigeonPatagioenas maculosa
- Eared DoveZenaida auriculata
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 March and in October.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan17°/2°22 mm
- Feb17°/2°22 mm
- Mar17°/1°15 mm
- Apr16°/-1°3 mm
- May12°/-3°1 mm
- Jun11°/-3°1 mm
- Jul10°/-3°1 mm
- Aug12°/-3°1 mm
- Sep14°/-2°2 mm
- Oct16°/-1°3 mm
- Nov18°/0°4 mm
- Dec18°/1°13 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Salar del Huasco National Park.
National park and ramsar area in Chile
Salar del Huasco National Park is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Chile, 3,781 m above the sea.
72 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 2,615 open records.
The most recorded are the Andean Goose, the Crested duck and the Andean Gull.
15 species come for the summer, 12 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
3 are threatened worldwide, including Andean Flamingo, Lesser yellowlegs and Andean Condor.
The most species are recorded in March and in October.
Get there and watch
- Diego Aracena International Airport (IQQ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 141 km in a straight lineCar hire at IQQ airport (Iquique)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
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 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 del Huasco National Park.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas35 mountains within 25 kmWaylla4,923 m · 14 kmCerro Guaillaputuncu4,758 m · 15 kmCerro Corregidor4,574 m · 16 kmCerro Andes4,689 m · 18 kmCerro Cucho4,724 m · 20 kmWila Qullu4,948 m · 21 kmCerro Coilpavera4,698 m · 21 kmCerro Chocoluluni4,707 m · 23 km
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 kmLaguna del Guasco1.4 km² · 4.1 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 del Huasco National Park
Chile
- 49Birdyas Score
- 72Species
- 28Migrants
- 3Threatened
Salar de Surire Natural Monument
Chile · 162 km
- 41Birdyas Score
- 47Species
- 15Migrants
- 2Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q20022191) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 2,615 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, Lakeyas |
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?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit