Thursday, February 28, 2008, 3:22 pm
Birdless Buenos Aires
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — I’m finishing up a few days in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where summer is drawing to a close and life goes on as usual for 13 million Argentines. It’s a huge, bustling city, and it has very few birds. For the first couple of days, I was convinced that the only bird species present were House Sparrows and Rock Doves.
But yesterday, I picked up a few more species, including Eared Dove (the Mourning Dove equivalent), Cattle Tyrant (a ground-dwelling flycatcher species), and Rufous Hornero (a common, noisy ovenbird).
There is an ecological reserve along the Rio Plato, but we didn’t have time to go. We’re leaving for Paraguay by overnight bus today, so I’m hoping for better luck in a less developed part of the world.
To get from Costa Rica to Argentina, we flew through Miami, where we had a 24-hour layover. I didn’t see any life birds while running around the Keys and the Everglades, but I did see my first Great “White” Heron, and I got some nice pictures, which I hope to post at some point.
Anyway, off to Paraguay!

David J. Ringer


on 02 Mar 2008 at 6:03 pm 1.John Carlson said …
Hi David,
Too bad you didn’t make it to Costanera Sur Reserve. It was a great place to bird when I was there about 5 years ago and located along the river in the heart of Buenos Aires.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your travels and find lots of birds. John
on 05 Mar 2008 at 6:31 pm 2.Old Horsetail Snake said …
Don’t rush. Take time to smell the starlings, for pete’s sake.
on 27 Mar 2008 at 7:48 pm 3.Claudia said …
Hi David,
we have tagged you! Hope you have not been tagged by that one before:
http://dagensfagel.blogspot.com/2008/03/6-word-meme.html
All the best from Sweden,
Claudia and Anders