Home / Experiences / Birdwatching
Birdwatching in Salto
Uruguay has more than 450 recorded bird species, and the stretch around Salto concentrates an extraordinary share of them: river and gallery forest, palm groves, open grassland and the vast reservoir behind the dam, all within reach of the city. What makes it rare is not the list. It is abundance without crowds, and access without difficulty.
Photograph: Marcelo Cattani
What's Included
- A local guide who knows where the screamers roost and which palm grove the parakeets favour
- On the water and its margins: ringed kingfishers, cocoi herons, great egrets and the southern screamer
- Over the open country: savanna hawks, southern crested and chimango caracaras, and burrowing owls on the fenceposts at dusk
- In the gallery forest: red-crested cardinals, monk parakeets, green-barred woodpeckers, tanagers and finches
- The hornero, Uruguay's national bird, and its clay-oven nests on posts and branches all the way round
When
Good to Know
Come at first light and bring binoculars. Spring, September to November, brings breeding plumage, song and returning migrants; autumn and winter concentrate waterbirds and migratory shorebirds along the reservoir. The best birding is along the riverfront paths, in the wooded areas near the dam and on the rural estancias that ring the city. Tell me your dates and I confirm the guide, the meeting point and the price.
Read first: Birdwatching in Salto, where the river comes alive →
I quote the price for your group in my confirmation. Tell me the date, how many you are and what the group is interested in.
No payment online · Pay the guide on the day, in Uruguayan pesos, cash or bank transfer · Free cancellation up to 24h before
Request a morning