Photos with this report (click to enlarge) | |||
 Iguazu Hummingbird Garden |
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Birders visiting the Iguazu area usually go birding in and around the Iguazu National Park and while being there they also take a look at the world famous Iguazu Falls. Yet many do not know that on the Argentine side in the town of Puerto Iguazu there is a garden at a private home which is famous for the number and different species of hummingbirds it attracts.
The place belongs to the Castillo family and they have arranged it in such a way that they have year round plants blossoming in order to attract hummers. On the branches of several bushes Mrs. Castillo hangs feeders which are visited not only by hummingbirds but also by bananaquits, tanagers and blackbirds. In order to help travelling birders visit this garden, I have drawn a map showing the easiest way to reach it.
In the trees that grow around the Castillo's home and its neighbourhood often one can see other wary species including several species of Doves, Chalk-browed Mockingbirds, Chopi Blackbirds and even Red-rumped Caciques.
In mid May, while bird-guiding at the Hummingbird Garden we saw 8 different hummingbird species - the most striking sighting was that of a Swallow-tailed Hummingbird considered very rare in Argentina as only two previous sightings of it have been recorded before!
List of birds seen at the "Hummingbird Garden" at Iguazu:
- Eared Dove, Zenaida auriculata.
- Picui Ground Dove, Columbina picui.
- Ruddy Ground Dove, Columbina tapalcoti.
- Scaled Dove, Columbina squammata.
- Scale-throated Hermit, Phaethornis eurynome.
- Planalto Hermit, Phaethornis pretrei.
- Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Eupetomena macrura.
- Black Jacobin, Melanotrochilus fuscus.
- Black-throated Mango, Anthracothorax nigricollis.
- Violet-capped Woodnimph, Thalurania glaucopis.
- Glittering-bellied Emerald, Chlorostilbon aureoventris.
- Gilded Sapphire, Hylocharis chrysura.
- White-throated Hummingbird, Leucochloris albicollis.
- Versicoloured Emerald, Amazilia versicolor.
- Bananaquit, Coereba flaveola.
- Sayaca Tanager, Thraupis sayaca.
- Violaceus Euphonia, Euphonia violacea.
- Chestnut-bellied Euphonia, Euphonia pectoralis.
- Green-headed Tanager, Tangara seledon.
- Blue Dacnis, Dacnis cayana.
- Saffron Yellow-Finch, Sicalis flaveola.
- Epaulet Oriole, Icterus cayanensis.
- Baywing, Agelaiodes badius.
- Shiny Cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis.
- House Sparrow, Passer domesticus.
By following the map there is little chance of missing the place so any visiting birder should call at the gate and someone from the Castillo's family will show you into the garden and then walk to the feeders area where most of the hummers are seen.