Top 20 Most Common Bird in Arica y Parinacota

Belcher's gull grows to a length of about 49 centimetres (19 in). The sexes are similar in appearance and in the breeding season, the adult has a white head and very pale grey neck and underparts. The mantle and back are greyish-black and the tail is white with a broad black subterminal band and a white trailing edge. The wing coverts and primaries are black and the secondaries dark grey with white tips. The eye is black, the bill yellow with a distinctive red and black tip, and the legs and feet yellow. Outside the breeding season the head is dark brown with a white ring surrounding the eye. The juvenile is mottled brown and white and attains the adult plumage during its third year. Belcher's gull can be confused with the slightly larger kelp gull (Larus dominicanus) but that species has a small white tip on its otherwise black wing and lacks the Belcher's gull's black band on its tail.

The Peruvian booby has brown upperparts, and white underparts, as well as a white head. There is noticeable white mottling on the upper side of the wings. Their wing-coverts are tipped white, creating a scale-like pattern. They have a long, pointed, grey bill. Their feet are webbed and also grey; as opposed to the characteristic colouring of the blue-footed and red-footed boobies Female boobies tend to be larger than their male counterparts: their bodies an average of 19% heavier, and their wings 4% larger.

The sexes are similar in grey gulls. Adults grow to a length of about 45 cm (18 in) and weigh some 360 to 400 g (13 to 14 oz). The head is white in summer but brownish-grey in winter. The body and wings are grey with the dorsal surface rather darker than the ventral region. The flight feathers are black and the inner primaries and the secondaries have white tips, visible in flight. The tail has a band of black with a white trailing edge. The legs and beak are black and the iris is brown. The call is similar to that of the laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla).

The Peruvian pelican (Pelecanus thagus) is a member of the pelican family. It lives on the west coast of South America, breeding in loose colonies from about 33.5° in central Chile to Piura in northern Peru, and occurring as a visitor in southern Chile and Ecuador. These birds are dark in colour with a white stripe from the top of the bill up to the crown and down the sides of the neck. They have long tufted feathers on the top of their heads. It was previously considered a subspecies of the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). The Peruvian pelican is considerably larger, ranging from about 5 to 7 kg (11–15 lb) in weight, 137 to 152 cm (4.5–5.0 ft) in length and with a wingspan of about 228 cm (7.5 ft). Compared to the brown pelican, it also has proportionally longer crest feathers, as well as differences in the colours of the gular pouch, beak, scapulars and greater wing coverts. The main breeding season occurs from September to March. Clutch size is usually two or three eggs. Eggs are incubated for approximately 4 to 5 weeks, with the rearing period lasting about 3 months. This bird feeds on several species of fish. Unlike the brown pelican, it never dives from a great height to catch it food, instead diving from a shallow height or feeding while swimming on the surface. On occasion it may take other food items, such as nestling of imperial shags, young Peruvian diving petrels, gray gulls and cannibalize unrelated chicks of its own species. Its status was first evaluated for the IUCN Red List in 2008, being listed as Near threatened.

The Inca tern is a large tern, approximately 40 cm (16 in) long. Sexes are similar; the adult is mostly slate-grey with white restricted to the facial plumes and the trailing edges of the wings. The large bill and legs are dark red. Immature birds are purple-brown, and gradually develop the facial plumes.

This bird is 64 cm (25 in) long with a 100 cm (39 in) wingspan. Adults males weigh from 1.1 to 1.5 kg (2.4 to 3.3 lb), adult females 50 to 100 g (1.8 to 3.5 oz) less. Birds of the southern populations tend to be bigger than the more northerly birds. It is small and slender, especially compared to the larger, heavier-looking double-crested cormorant. It has a long tail and frequently holds its neck in an S-shape. Adult plumage is mainly black, with a yellow-brown throat patch. During breeding, white tufts appear on the sides of the head, there are scattered white filoplumes on the side of the head and the neck, and the throat patch develops a white edge. The upper wings are somewhat grayer than the rest of the body. Juveniles are brownish in color.

The turkey Vulture is a common sight, especially around roads, where they keep a sharp eye out for roadkill. Seeing these large birds in the sky can often make you take a second look to see if it’s an eagle or a hawk. Here’s one quick way to tell the difference. When in flight, a turkey Vulture will circle unsteadily, with its wings lifted to make a V shape. Though they are not appreciated, they do the dirty work of the animal kingdom by cleaning up the countryside as they scavenge.

The plumage of the blackish oystercatcher is slaty-black with wings and back being rather dark brown. The long bill is blood-red and the legs are white. The sexes are similar in appearance. The blackish oystercatcher is easily overlooked on a rocky shore. Its dark colour blends in with the colour of the rocks on which it walks as it forages, and it does not draw attention to itself. Its presence, however, can easily be detected by its loud and distinctive warning calls. The song of the blackish oystercatcher, when given in duet, consists of an excited chatter of piping whistles. Calls include notes that sound like "pip" and "peeeeyeeee".

The red-legged cormorant is a medium-sized seabird, with a long neck, streamlined body, webbed feet and a long, thin hooked bill. Its body length is 71–76 centimetres (28–30 in), with an average wingspan of 91 cm (36 in). It weighs 1.3–1.5 kilograms (2.9–3.3 lb). There is no sexual dimorphism between the male and female birds. The red-legged cormorant's appearance is unmistakable. Breeding adults have a smoky grey body, with a slightly paler underside. They have scattered areas of white filoplumes behind the eyes and down the neck. The wing coverts have a speckled, silvery grey appearance, followed by broad black wing tips. The tail is also black. The eyes are green, surrounded by sixteen tiny blue marks. The bill is yellow, shading to orange toward the base, the gular skin is a vibrant orange or red. The legs and feet are a striking coral red. Non-breeding adults look similar to breeding adults. They lack the white filoplumes, the wing coverts appear less silvery, but more dark grey, and the bill and gular skin are duller in colouration. Juvenile red-legged cormorants usually possess paler, brown plumage with a speckling of white around the throat. Juvenile plumage colouration can be highly variable between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Their eyes are grey and their bills and gular skin range from black to orange. The legs and feet can be a dull orange to a reddish black.

At 45–48 cm (18–19 in) long, it is large for a black-headed gull (it is the largest gull with that kind of plumage in the Americas). It is the largest species in the genus Chroicocephalus and has a dark hood, a pale grey back and a pattern of black and white on its primaries.

The Peruvian diving petrel (Pelecanoides garnotii) (local name in Peru: potoyunco) is a small seabird that feeds in offshore waters in the Humboldt Current off Peru and Chile. Like the rest of the diving petrels it is a nondescript bird, with a dark back and pale belly, and blue feet, and can be separated from the rest of its family only by differences in its beak and nostrils. Unlike the common diving petrel and the South Georgia diving petrel it feeds in cold, offshore, often pelagic water, obtaining small fish larvae and planktonic crustaceans by pursuit diving. The main part of his food is made up by plankton organisms (85.3-91.1%). The remaining percentage of the Peruvian diving petrel's food is fish, mainly anchovies. Peruvian diving petrels can dive up to 83 metres (270 ft) deep but the average depth was recorded at around 30 metres (100 ft). It was long thought that the Peruvian diving petrel was rather bad in flying. However, great numbers of birds have been observed fishing regularly in the area between Asia Island and Pachacamac Island at a distance of 150-200 kilometres north of their Peruvian breeding grounds. The Peruvian diving petrel has become locally extinct on many of its former colonies and now nests only on a few offshore islands. A total population of 12,216 breeding pairs was estimated for San Gallán and La Vieja Islands in Peru, with some small additional breeding colonies reported for Corcovado Island in Peru, as well as Pan de Azucar Island, Choros islands, Grande and Pajaros islands in Chile. They breed year round, laying a single egg in a burrow dug into guano. Peruvian diving petrels are considered Near Threatened. They formerly numbered in the millions, but the pressures of guano extraction (which destroyed nests, eggs and chicks), and being directly taken for food by guano workers and introduced species (particularly foxes and feral cats), have caused the number to crash. Although all of the Peruvian breeding sites are located in protected areas (Paracas National Reserve and Guano Islands National Reserve) some guano extraction still continues and the reserves are ineffectively policed. The binomial of this species commemorates the French naturalist Prosper Garnot.

The Guanay cormorant or Guanay shag (Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum) is a member of the cormorant family found on the Pacific coast of Peru and northern Chile. (The Argentinian population on the Patagonian Atlantic coast appears to be extirpated.) After breeding it spreads south to southern parts of Chile and north to Ecuador, and has also been recorded as far north as Panama and Colombia – probably a result of mass dispersal due to food shortage in El Niño years. Its major habitats include shallow seawater and rocky shores. The Guanay cormorant is similar in coloration to the rock cormorant, Phalacrocorax magellanicus, but larger, measuring 78 cm from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail. Its bill is grayish with some red at the base. The face is red with a green eye-ring. It has roseate feet. The head, neck and back are black as are the outer parts of the thighs. The throat patch, breast and belly are white. In breeding plumage it has a few white feathers on the sides of the head and neck. Breeding occurs year-round with a peak in November and December. The nest is built of guano on flat surfaces on offshore islands or remote headlands. There are up to three nests per square meter in high-density colonies. The Guanay cormorant lays two or three eggs of approximately 63 x 40 mm in size. It feeds mainly on the Peruvian anchoveta, Engraulis ringens, and the Peruvian silverside, Odontesthes regia, which thrive in the cold Humboldt Current. The Guanay cormorant is the main producer of guano. Habitat loss and degradation and over-fishing have resulted in a steady decline of the population of about 30% from an estimated figure of 3 million birds in 1984. This species is listed as Near Threatened by IUCN. Some taxonomic authorities, including the International Ornithologists' Union, place this species in the genus Leucocarbo. Others place it in the genus Phalacrocorax. The scientific name commemorates the French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville. The bird's droppings were such an important source of fertilizer to the peoples of the Andes that it was protected by Inca rulers, who supposedly made disturbing the cormorants in any way punishable by death.

A small shorebird, the ruddy Turnstone has a unique foraging method. The bird uses its short beak to flip over shells, rocks, and other debris as it searches for invertebrates. It is a common bird on coastlines throughout the world but prefers rocky shorelines. It’s not uncommon for it to mix with other types of shorebirds, but its rattling cry makes it easily identifiable.

The kelp gull superficially resembles two gulls from further north in the Atlantic Ocean, the lesser black-backed gull and the great black-backed gull and is intermediate in size between these two species. This species ranges from 54 to 65 cm (21 to 26 in) in total length, from 128 to 142 cm (50 to 56 in) in wingspan and from 540 to 1,390 g (1.19 to 3.06 lb) in weight. Adult males and females weigh on average 1,000 g (2.2 lb) and 900 g (2.0 lb) respectively. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 37.3 to 44.8 cm (14.7 to 17.6 in), the bill is 4.4 to 5.9 cm (1.7 to 2.3 in) and the tarsus is 5.3 to 7.5 cm (2.1 to 3.0 in). The adult kelp gull has black upperparts and wings. The head, underparts, tail, and the small "mirrors" at the wing tips are white. The bill is yellow with a red spot, and the legs are greenish-yellow (brighter and yellower when breeding, duller and greener when not breeding). The call is a strident ki-och. Juveniles have dull legs, a black bill, a dark band in the tail, and an overall grey-brown plumage densely edged whitish, but they rapidly get a pale base to the bill and largely white head and underparts. They take three or four years to reach maturity.

Elliot's storm petrel (Oceanites gracilis) is a species of seabird in the storm petrel family Hydrobatidae. The species is also known as the white-vented storm petrel. There are two subspecies, O. g. gracilis, which is found in the Humboldt Current off Peru and Chile, and O. g. galapagoensis, which is found in the waters around the Galápagos Islands. It is a sooty-black storm petrel with a white rump and a white band crossing the lower belly and extending up the midline of the belly. It has long legs which extend beyond the body in flight. In spite of the frequent sightings of this species it is very poorly known. Despite considerable research, only one nest had ever been found prior to 2003, that being on the Isla Chungungo, off the coast of Chile. During a survey in 2002, about eleven nests were found in three crevices on this island, but it was also being used by nesting Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) and there seemed to be very few suitable sites for the petrels to nest. Another possible breeding site may be inland in the Atacama Desert; a mummified chick, verified by DNA analysis, has been found in a crevice here, and signs of former activities in various cavities, but no live bird has been seen despite searches at various times of the year. It seems likely that there are some breeding colonies in Peru, because the bird is quite common off the coast out at sea. The population around the Galápagos Islands seems to be a resident and likely to be breeding, but again, no nesting site is known. The feeding behaviour of the Galápagos subspecies is unusual amongst storm-petrels as it forages close to shore; all other storm-petrels are exclusively pelagic.

The whimbrel is a shorebird that is often found in coastal areas. It is often present in flocks, mixing with other shorebirds. It is distinguishable by its short, high-pitch whistles that males often emit to warn others of potential predators. A primary food source for the shorebird in the winter is the fiddler crab. Its curved bill allows the bird to easily dig into the crab’s burrow.

The shorter, stockier version of their long-legged heron counterparts, the black-crowned Night-heron is most active in the early evening hours, giving them their name. The most commonly-found heron across the world, you can spot them in wetlands, though they may be more difficult to notice than the taller heron species. Studying their nests can get a bit smelly- startled nestlings tend to eject their food when they are approached by people.

The American oystercatcher has distinctive black and white plumage and a long, bright orange beak. The head and breast are black and the back, wings and tail greyish-black. The underparts are white, as are feathers on the inner part of the wing which become visible during flight. The irises are yellow and the eyes have orange orbital rings. The legs are pink. Adults are between 42–52 cm (17–20 in) in length.

Sooty shearwaters are 40–51 cm in length with a 94– to 110-cm wingspan. It has the typical "shearing" flight of the genus, dipping from side to side on stiff wings with few wing beats, the wingtips almost touching the water. Its flight is powerful and direct, with wings held stiff and straight, giving the impression of a very small albatross. This shearwater is identifiable by its dark plumage, which is responsible for its name. In poor viewing conditions, it looks all black, but in good light, it shows as dark chocolate-brown with a silvery strip along the center of the underwing. Usually loud, sooty shearwaters coo and croak while on the breeding grounds. In the Atlantic, it is the only such bird, whereas in the Pacific part of its range, other all-dark large shearwaters are found. The short-tailed shearwater in particular is almost impossible to tell apart from the present species at a distance.

In German usage, the Perutäubchen has a similar sounding name. This species belongs to the genus Columbina. Even the salvage dove from the genus of American field doves is sometimes referred to as Perutaube.