There are hundreds of different species of birds living in Chile, including the national bird, the Andean condor.
The lesser rhea, a large flightless bird native to South America, has three toes instead of four, which allows them to run faster.
There are a few species of lesser rhea that have been recorded in Chile, but it is not possible to tell which of them are resident there.
Icterids
Icterids are small to medium-sized passerine birds native to the New World. Their names include grackles, blackbirds, orioles, and wood-warblers.
Although the majority of icterid species have black plumage, some of them are colorful and have brighter coloration. Many of them are migratory birds, and many of them nest in the United States or migrate south to Mexico for the winter.
Icterids vary in size, from the tiny orchard oriole (0.6 oz.) to the massive, 1.2-pound (528-gram) Montezuma’s oropendola (1.2 lb).
Most species are brightly colored, and many are distinguished by their prominent red coloration. However, some species are small in size and have a sparse crest.
Despite their small size, hummingbirds live in the forests of Chile. These small birds, which include a variety of species, feed primarily on insects and other small fish.
They are found throughout the country and are the most common birds in some coastal regions. Among Chile’s other interesting species are the cotinga, the chiloe wigeon, and the Andean gull.
In addition to the aforementioned species, Chile is home to several other nocturnal raptors. The oilbird is a slim, long-winged bird related to the nightjars.
They are specialist feeders of oil palm fruit. The potoo is another large near-passerine bird and is related to nightjars, but lacks bristles around their mouths. These two species, along with the osprey, are endemic to Chile.
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Wood-warblers
The wood-warblers of Chile belong to a diverse group of birds known as tinamous. These small to medium-sized birds, found throughout South America, are closely related to ground-dwelling quail but do not have close relatives.
They are members of the family Tinamiformes and are distantly related to rat-like birds, such as rheas and emus. Chile is home to eight species, including the chiloe wigeon, which breeds in southern and central Chile.
The list of species is comprised of 76 unique specimens, of which 32 were sequenced in this study. An additional 48 species were sequenced from BOLD and GenBank.
This represents 17.2% of the Chilean bird population. The length of the new specimens ranged from 464 to 750 bp and varied between two and seventeen sequences per species.
The authors used standard diagnostic criteria for species identification, which include coloration and morphology.
A group of passerine birds that resembles nightjars, except that they are smaller and have different plumages, include the oilbird and the potoo.
Both of these species feed mainly on seed-bearing trees and other vegetation. The wood-warblers of Chile are both terrestrial and arboreal in nature. They have beautiful and appealing songs, and are a wonderful sight to behold.
Vireos
Vireos are small to medium-sized passerine birds. Their name comes from the Latin for “greenish” and their bill is usually heavier. There are only one species of vireo in Chile.
This bird’s coloring varies from olive to light gray, but it generally has a pale throat and a white stripe above its eye. The colors of its male and female counterparts are similar, but some of these species are more striking than others.
Vireos are solitary birds that appear as family groups or breeding pairs. Some species also join mixed-species foraging flocks. Vireos are known for their loud and varied songs, with as many as 10 to 100 different types.
Males sing more than females and are also the most vocal, with song recurring often. They feed primarily on insects, but also glean on plant surfaces. They also eat small berries and fruits.
Other avian species found in Chile include the Andean condor, the southern viscacha, and the horned rhea. These large flightless birds are native to South America, and their three toed feet enable them to run faster.
Chile has one species of lesser rhea. There are over 120 species of vireos, including the critically endangered James’ flamingo and the endangered Andean viscacha.
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Tyrant flycatchers
The subfamily Tyranninae includes over 393 species and 91 genera, including the micronectine flycatchers Mionectes and Leptopogon, as well as the tyrant flycatchers, which include Capsiempis, Nesotriccus, Pseudelaenia, and Stigmatura.
The subfamily also includes several subspecies of the micronectine flycatcher, such as the tyrant-like Corythopis, and the cactus-like Corythopis.
The tyrant flycatchers of Chile are a member of the family Tyrannidae, and can be found from southern Bolivia to Tierra del Fuego. The species is sometimes considered a subspecies of the white-crested elaenia.
It lives in temperate and subtropical moist montane forests, rocky areas, and heavily degraded former forests.
The Vermilion Flycatcher is one of the tyrant flycatchers of Chile. It is black with yellowish wings and legs, and it prefers to perch in open areas. The males have a fiery red spectacle on its face.
Their tails are round and medium-length. Some species are more colorful than others, such as the Pyrocephalus rubinus. There are many other tyrant flycatcher species in Chile, and they are all fascinating to see.
Among the most common species of Tyrant flycatchers, there are four main subspecies: Pied Water-Tyrant, Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant, White-browed Chat-Tyrant, and Cock-tailed Gray Tyrant.
Unlike the White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, the Pied Water-Tyrant has a long, forked tail and mainly gray upperparts.
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Lesser rheas
The Lesser Rhea (Rhea darwinii) is a large flightless bird found in the Altiplano of South America. It is the smaller of two extant species of rheas, and stands ninety to one hundred centimeters (cm) tall.
It has sharp claws on its toes and a brown and white plumage. Unlike other ratites, rheas have a feathered upper tarsus.
The Lesser Rhea has eight or ten horizontal plates on the front of its shorter tarsi, with white spotting on the tips of its wings. The feathers may vary in color depending on the time of year or breeding season.
It lives in the open plains of South America, preferring wet meadows over steppes. While this species is endangered, there are several organizations working to restore it to Chilean Patagonia.
The Lesser Rhea is found in desert salt puna and upland bogs and heather moors from WC to S Argentina.
During the second voyage of the HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin and John Gould made several trips ashore to search for Avestruz Petise. They continued their journey by sailing south to Port Desire in southern Patagonia.
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Tropicbirds
The endemic tropicbirds of Chile are known to be a fascinating sight, even in their ordinary appearance. They have long, thin wire-like tail feathers, coral-red bills, and eponymous red streamers.
These birds never perch on the ground, and most have long, swept-back wings resembling a crescent moon or boomerang.
There are three species of swifts in Chile: the white-throated sparrow, the pink-breasted titmouse, and the eponymous red-throated swift. While they have similar feathers, this species has a more distinct plumage pattern than many of the other tropicbirds.
Cardinals are small, flightless birds that are associated with open woodland. They have distinct plumage and differ from one another in terms of sex.
The two species in Chile are very similar, though their plumages are not identical. Cardinals are mainly seed-eating birds, but they have a distinctly different appearance. They have a rounded head, long, and pointed bills. Cardinals, meanwhile, are a popular sighting in Chile.
The red-tailed tropicbird is a seabird native to the western and tropical Pacific Oceans. Its range is widely varied, ranging from the Caribbean to the Galapagos Islands.
It is also known to breed in the Galapagos Islands. The red-tailed tropicbird is an extremely rare species, but it can be found in Chile and has been recorded from as far away as Japan.
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