Iguazu falls Argentina

Due to an expired Brazilian tourist visa I made a day trip to Iguazu Falls National park.

The falls are listed as one of the 7 wonders of the world, and are the widest in the world with 275 separate falls stretching for 2.7 km as the Iguazu river divides, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

The longest drop is an impressive 82 meters and the impressive Devils throat on the Argentinean side is one of the most impressive cascades of water anywhere in the world.

Iguazu falls

After enjoying the beauty of the falls I turned my attention to wildlife which was very prominent. The National park is 550km2 and protects an area of subtropical Atlantic forest, home to a large diversity of wildlife. The most conspicuous group is the butterflies that occur in flock abundance around the forest edge and cafes where they come down to feed on salts, minerals and sugars from leftover food. I am still working on the identification of many species.

The birdlife in the park is very rich and species such as black-fronted piping guan and harpy eagle have found refuge. One of the best spectacles for me was the hundreds of great dusky swifts swirling in a swarm around the Devils throat falls. They use the safety of falls to roost overnight and feed on the flying insects attracted to the moist air during the day.

Great dusky swifts

Plush-crested jays, toco toucans, gray-headed kite and gray-breasted martins were some of the other avian highlights.

Plush-crested jay

Some reptiles were quite easy to see in the park, such as broad-snouted caiman, Amazonian whiptail and still to be identified turtles.

Broad-snouted caiman

The most evident mammal was the South American coati which have become habituated to the presence of hoards of tourists and scavenge around the cafes, allowing superb views.

 

I found 6 troops plus a few lone males very easily along the trails and around the cafes.

Azara's agouti was a species I was cautiously hoping for and I found one feeding on fruit on the edge of the forest near to the start of the walkway out to the Devils throat.

Azara's agouti

Brown capuchin is abundant in the park and I found a pair of juveniles working their way along the higher trail that leads out to the falls from a different angle.

Brown capuchin

Brazilian cavy or guinea pig was easily seen grazing on the short sword of the lawns near to the main visitor centre and entrance. I found 5 here scattered around the lawns but always close to the edge of the scrub that bordered the lawns.

Brazilian cavies

Towards the end of the day I found a trail that lead from the entrance road towards pampas wetland and open forest. I did not see much, but found lots of tracks in wet mud, most were from coatis, but a small deer (possibly red brocket) species was clearly regularly using the track and a small cat species which I suspect was jaguarundi. The taxi driver I spoke to on the way back, out of the park said he sometimes sees mammals crossing the road near the park entrance including jaguar.