Distribution: Resident breeder from western Panama and Trinidad south through most of South America east of the Andes; in marshes and shallow lakes.

Conservation status: Least Concern.

Wattled Jacana 

South American Painted-Snipe (Nycticryphes semicollaris)

Distribution: Southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to Chile and Argentina. It inhabits lowland freshwater wetlands, including wet grasslands.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Photo

South American Snipe (Gallinago paraguaiae)

Distribution: Breeds in most of South America away from the Pacific coast and eastern Brazil, and also the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Trinidad and possibly Tobago. The nominate lowland race G. p. paraguaiae is resident, but southern G. p. magellanicae migrates north in winter, abandoning Tierra del Fuego altogether, and the Andean G. p. andina moves to lower ground; in wet grassy savannah, peat bogs and boggy rivers.

Conservation status: Least Concern

South American Snipe ©Cláudio Dias Timm

Puna Snipe (Gallinago andina)

Distribution: Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina; in bogs, marshes, and edges of lakes at 3000-4000 m.

Conservation status: Least concern

Photo

Noble Snipe (Gallinago nobilis)

Distribution: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela above or just below the treeline.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Noble Snipe ©Robert Scanlon

Giant Snipe (Gallinago undulata)

Distribution: nominate subspecies G. u. undulata occurs in two distinct areas, one in Colombia, and the other from Venezuela through Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana to extreme north-eastern Brazil. The southern subspecies G. u. gigantea is found in eastern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay and south-east Brazil, and probably also in Uruguay and north-eastern Argentina, in tall vegetation in swamps and flooded grasslands, and occasionally in dry savannah.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Gigant Snipe ©Lee Dingain

Fuegian Snipe (Gallinago stricklandii)

Distribution: Breeds in south-central Chile and Argentina south to Tierra del Fuego. It is mainly sedentary, but the Tierra del Fuego population winters in mainland Chile; found in grassy and forested boggy areas with low scrub or bushes; at altitudes ranging from 4200 m in the north of its distribution, down to nearly sea level in Tierra del Fuego.

Conservation status: Near threatened

Photo

Andean Snipe (Gallinago jamesoni)

Distribution: Andes in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It appears to be entirely sedentary, with no evidence of migration; in marshy areas where grassland and forest intergrades, at altitudes ranging between 2100 – 3800 m

Conservation status: Least Concern

Imperial Snipe (Gallinago imperialis)

Distribution: Peru, Ecuador and Colombia; in elfin forest around the tree line between 2750-3500 m.

Conservation status: Near Threatened

Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe (Attagis gayi)

Distribution: Andes of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina between 4000-5000 m.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Photo

White-bellied Seedsnipe (Attagis malouinus)

Distribution: southern parts of Argentina and Chile and is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); in temperate grassland and swamps.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Photo

Gray-breasted Seedsnipe (Thinocorus orbignyianus)

Distribution: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru; in temperate grassland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland and swamps.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Gray-breasted Seedsnipe ©Pablo Caceres Contreras

Least Seedsnipe (Thinocorus rumicivorus)

Distribution: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru and has been recorded in Ecuador, the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Uruguay and possibly Brazil; in temperate grassland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and pastureland.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Least Seedsnipe ©Pablo Caceres Contreras

Snowy Sheathbill (Chionis albus)

Distribution: Breeds on the Antarctic Peninsula, and along the Scotia Arc on the South Shetland Islands, Elephant Island, the South Orkney Islands and South Georgia (Georgia del Sur) and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Sandwich del Sur) and non-breeding migrant to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Tierra del Fuego (Chile and Argentina);

Conservation status: Least Concern

Snowy Sheathbill ©David M. Jensen

All photos under Creative Commons License

It’s a little known fact that there is a group of shorebirds that live and migrate only between Central and South America. They are called Endemic Neotropical Shorebirds. The Neotropics contains 27 endemic shorebird species, and two endemic families, the Seed-snipes (Thinocoridae) and the monospecific family of the Magellanic Plover (Pluvianellidae). Unlike Neartic migratory shorebirds, the Neotropical shorebirds are little known, since many live in remote and inaccessible areas.

In this first part of this post I will talk about 13 of these 27 shorebirds and in the second part I will write about the rest.

Peruvian Thick-knee (Burhinus superciliaris)

Distribution: Ecuador, Peru, Chile; mainly in desert scrub and agricultural areas of coastal lowlands.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Peruvian Thick-knee ©David Cook

Pied Lapwing (Hoploxypterus cayanus)

Distribution: East of the Andes in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia; on sandy beaches throughout Amazonian lowlands.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Pied Lapwing ©Arthur Chapman

Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis)

Distribution: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and recently spreading into Central America; in lake and river banks or open grassland except in densely forested areas.

Conservation status: Least Concern

 Southern Lapwing

Andean Lapwing (Vanellus resplendens)

Distribution: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Chile and Argentina; mainly between 3000-4600m in open grassy marshes, edges of lakes and bogs, and dry fields.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Andean Lapwing ©Patty McGann 

Puna Plover (Charadrius alticola)

Distribution: Andes from Central Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, mainly between 3800-4500m, along shores of high elevation lakes, rare non-breeding visitor (May-August) to coast from Lima to the south.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Two-banded Plover (Charadrius falklandicus)

Distribution: Breeds in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). Part of the population migrates north in winter with some birds reaching Uruguay and southern Brazil; in lakes, saline marshes, rocky shores and sandy shores.

Conservation status: Least Concern

 Two-banded Plover

Rufous-chested Dotterel (Charadrius modestus)

Distribution: Breeds in the southern parts of Argentina and Chile and on the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). Some birds migrate north in winter, reaching as far as Uruguay, southern Brazil and occasionally Peru; temperate grassland, mudflats, estuaries and sandy shores.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Rufous-chested Dotterel

Rufous-chested Dotterel ©Pablo Caceres Contreras

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover (Phegornis mitchellii)

Distribution: Andes of Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina; in bogs and at edges of streams and small lakes at high elevations 4100-5000 m.

Conservation status: Near Threatened

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover ©Richard Gibbons

Tawny-throated Dotterel (Oreopholus ruficollis)

Distribution: Breeds in the Andes in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. Non-breeding migrants reach Ecuador, Brazil and Uruguay and it is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); in subtropical or tropical dry scrubland, temperate grassland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and pastureland.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Tawny-throated Dotterel ©Vince Smith

Magellanic Plover (Pluvianellus socialis)

Distribution: Partially resident in the extreme south of Chile and south Argentina, with part of the population wintering north to the Valdes peninsula, south-central Argentina, and sometimes as far as Buenos Aires province; breeds inland and then moves to the coast during the winter, particularly to estuaries.

Conservation status: Near Threatened

 Magellanic Plover

Magellanic Oystercatcher (Haematopus leucopodus)

Distribution: Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); in freshwater lakes and sandy shores.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Magellanic Oystercatcher 

Blackish Oystercatcher (Haematopus ater)

Distribution: Argentina, Chile, the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and Peru, and is a vagrant to Uruguay; usually in rocky shores.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Blackish Oystercatcher ©Pablo Caceres Contreras 

Andean Avocet (Recurvirostra andina)

Distribution: Above 3500m in northwestern Argentina, western Bolivia, northern Chile and southern Peru, is non-migratory. May move to slightly lower altitudes when not breeding; usually around shallow saline lakes.

Conservation status: Least Concern

Andean Avocet ©Richard Gibbons

All photos under Creative Commons License