Chile: Condors, Penguins, and Albatross with Sabrewing Nature Tours

October 16 – 27, 2025 (and extension Oct 27 – Nov 1) with Rob Ripma and Tucson Audubon host Luke Safford

Only 1 spot left!

Chile is an incredible birding destination that you are sure to love! From fantastic pelagic birds to the wonderful birds in the stunningly beautiful high Andes, the diversity and beauty of this country is simply amazing.

Our tour will start in the capital city, Santiago. After visiting several great birding locations that are day trips from the city, we’ll transfer to the seaside town of Quintero. From here, we’ll take a pelagic trip into one of the most productive areas for seabirds. We’ll also visit some amazing coastal marshes in the area. During this part of the trip, our targets will include Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, Ticking Doradito, Black-browed, Salvin’s, Buller’s, Chatham, Wandering, and Royal Albatrosses, multiple petrels, shearwaters, and storm-petrels, Humboldt Penguin, and Seaside Cinclodes.

From here, we’ll head south to Vilches and the higher-elevation species that call this area home such as Rufous-legged Owl, White-throated Treerunner, and Chestnut-throated Huet-huet. After birding here, we’ll head back to Santiago and catch our flight to Temuco, the gateway to Patagonia.

While in this part of Chile, we’ll visit Conquillio National Park and Llaima Volcano. Our targets where include Slender-billed Parakeet, Magellanic Woodpecker, Rufous-tailed Hawk, and Black-throated Huet-huet. From here, we’ll continue south to Puerto Montt and Chiloe Island. Here we hope to find Chilean Hawk, a variety of migrant shorebirds, Snowy-crowned Tern, and a diversity of seabirds including Pincoya Storm-Petrel

Our extension for this tour will start with a flight to Punta Arenas in Patagonia. From here, we’ll travel to Tierra del Fuego. On our ferry ride to the island, we’ll search for a variety of seabirds including Black-browed Albatross, Southern Giant-Petrel, Southern Fulmar, White-chinned Petrel, Sooty Shearwater, Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, and Magellanic Diving-Petrel. Our main target once in Tierra del Fuego are the King Penguins that have formed a colony on the shore of Useless Bay. In addition to the penguins, we will look for highlights such as Rufous-chested and Tawny-throated Dotterels, White-bridled Finch, Magellanic Plover, Least Seedsnipe, and Band-tailed Earthcreeper.

After a short ferry ride back to the mainland, we’ll drive through the scenic steppe habitat towards the famous Torres del Paine National Park. We’ll spend our time in this region birding throughout both the park and Sierra Baguales. Avian highlights during this part of the trip could include Ruddy-headed Goose, Magellanic Woodpecker, Yellow-bridled Finch, Austral Parakeet, and much more!

Main Tour Summary

• October 16 – 27, 2025
• $7499 (double occupancy)
• Arrival/Departure Airport is Santiago, Chile

Extension Summary

• October 27 – Nov 1, 2025
• $3699 (double occupancy)
• Arrival/Departure Airport is Santiago, Chile

See the full itinerary and registration info here. See Sabrewing Nature Tours for terms and conditions.

Your participation supports conservation, and a portion will be donated to Tucson Audubon! For registration, contact our partner company for this tour, Sabrewing Nature Tours from the registration link on this page.