El Cóndor

El Cóndor is a small resort at the mouth of the Río Negro, with a lighthouse dating from the 1880s, described as the oldest on the Patagonian coast, and a long beach beneath sandstone cliffs. Those cliffs are what make the place remarkable: burrowing parrots have excavated tens of thousands of nest holes into them along a stretch of coast running for kilometres, forming what researchers have identified as the largest known colony of parrots anywhere. In the breeding season the air over the beach is full of green and olive birds with red bellies, calling constantly as they come and go from the cliff face. The colony is studied continuously, and the birds can be watched from the beach below.

What you actually see

• The parrot cliffs - tens of thousands of burrows in the sandstone face.
• The flying flocks - birds streaming to and from the colony in season.
• The old lighthouse - the 1880s tower above the river mouth.
• The long beach - open sand beneath the cliffs.

When to go

October to March covers the breeding season, when the colony is fully active and at its most spectacular; birds largely disperse afterwards and the cliffs fall quiet. Mornings and evenings show the heaviest traffic at the burrows.

Honest expectations

Outside the breeding season there may be very few birds to see. Climbing the cliffs or approaching burrows damages nests and is prohibited. The village is small with limited services and empties outside summer, and the wind here is relentless.

Nearby

Viedma lies upriver; Punta Bermeja and its sea lion colony are further south along the coast.