Birds of Chile

After doing some research on national birds I chose to talk about Chorlo Nevado or snowy plover. Its scientific name is Charadrius nivosus occidentalis and it breeds in Peru, Ecuador and in Chile we can find them in the lake banks from Arica to Chiloé.  The plumage of this shorebird is mainly white in chest, face, neck and abdomen; it has gray legs and a black beak.

They feed on beach hoppers, mollusks, marine worms and insects they get from the surface instead of searching under the sand like other shorebirds.

Their nests are made in small depressions on the sand, often in human footprints and they use shell fragments, pebbles or fish bones to cover it. They make them that way so the nests are camouflaged to look like sand and can be barely visible and that’s how they protect the eggs from a potential depredator.

Another bird that I like is the hummingbird. Its scientific name is Sephanoines sephanoides and it’s one of the smallest birds. They live on forests, gardens and flowery places in general; we can find them from Atacama to Tierra del Fuego.

Their name comes from the fact that they move their wings so fast that they make a humming noise and they are skilled when it comes to fly because they can do it in every direction, even backwards and upside down.

Its diet consists of flower nectar, pollen and insects and they need to eat a lot of food each day.

What I like the most about them is that their plumage is very colorful and they have characteristics that differentiate males from females.