55 BIRD Watcher’s Digest • January/February ’ 17 • birdwatchersdigest.com
member of the ovenbird family.
Due to an unseasonal storm
during our second day, birds
descended from higher elevations and we witnessed one of
the most amazing events of
altitudinal migration I have ever
seen. During the previous day,
one or two birds flitted in the
close-cropped pastures, but now
hundreds of birds flushed in
waves as we approached. Miners,
earthcreepers, cinclodes, and
canasteros of several species
were present in the low shrubs.
In a particularly productive field,
six species of ground-tyrants
hopped, sallied, and perched in
one continuous flurry of identification headaches. These tyrants
adeptly forage on the ground,
where they run surprisingly fast.
Clad in soft grays and browns
with scarcely a field mark, the
ground-tyrants had me flipping
through the field guide for quite
some time.
The birds of the Chilean
Andes may not be the most
impressive in terms of color;
in fact, most of them are drab
owls, and at night rufous-legged
owls called in the campsite.
To the east of Santiago rise
the Andes, forming a jagged
skyline of glacier-capped peaks
and rugged passes. Several roads
starting from the outskirts of
Santiago offer relatively easy
access to some serious high-ele-
vation birding. One of the more
famous destinations is the Cajon
del Maipo, a vast Andean valley
with a maintained gravel road
leading to the El Yeso reservoir
and beyond. Birders make the
pilgrimage to this barren land-
scape in search of the fabled dia-
demed plover and, as the reader
knows, we followed suit. Along
the way, we enjoyed a wide
variety of spectacular birds that
make this mountainous envi-
ronment their home, including
soaring Andean condors, dis-
playing gray-breasted seedsnipes,
and diminutive black-winged
ground-doves.
At lower elevations, cliffs and
side canyons provide habitat for
another unique endemic. A stop
within the first few miles into the
canyon usually offers a chance
to see the crag chilia. The resem-
blance of the species to a canyon
wren is striking, not just in terms
of its obvious white throat,
rufous wings, and raised tail, but
it also dashes around vertical
rocks and crevices just like its
North American counterpart. Of
course, the crag chilia is another S T E
PH
AN
LOR
EN
Z
Andean condors
remain common.
