What is your favorite bird species?
I enjoy all the birds really, from a feral pigeon in the train station to the most endangered and restrictive birds in my country, but I think the seedeater group is my favorite! They need good grass to live, very colorful, with amazing colors and complicated evolutionary questions to resolve about taxonomy! Amazing group for me.
What is your name, and where do you live?
My name is Diego Emmanuel Oscar, I live in Buenos Aires – Argentina, in the south of South America.
Barred Antshrike
What are the main regions or locations you cover as a bird guide?
I guide in countries including Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil but my favorite region is the littoral from Buenos Aires to Misiones province where we can see around 350 species and cross amazing places like the Ibera Wetlands or the famous Iguazu Falls.
Crested Caracara
How long have you been a bird guide?
I have been a birdwatcher all my life, but have working and guiding for the last 10 years.
How did you get into bird guiding?
I’m an IT engineer really and finished university trying to find work in the IT world, was really great and I worked for big IT companies, but…. I was not happy, and trying to find a change I created Sandpiper Birding & Tours, first only to guide around Buenos Aires but the company fortunately grew really fast and now we are a team of 20 guides working throughout the country.
Chaco Owl
What are the aspects of being a bird guide that you like best? Which aspects do you dislike most?
I think the contact with people from other countries is one of my favorite parts of working on it! This world is too big and we have plenty of things to discover, so, contact with the people is my favorite part, talking about birds, places, music, fantastic!
I enjoy a lot the time at the field guiding, but on the other hand the time at the office booking hotels, flights is really boring haha (but necessary)
Rufous-throated Dipper
What are the top 5-10 birds in your region that you think are the most interesting for visiting birders?
Argentina is a huge country! With plenty of different environments but a good TOP 5 could be the Scarlet-headed Blackbird, Yellow Cardinal, Dot-Winged Crake, Olrog’s Gull, and the biggest bird in South America, the Greater Rhea ?
Scarlet-headed Blackbird
Can you outline at least one typical birdwatching trip in your area? Please briefly describe the locations, the key birds, and the approximate duration of such a trip
I recommend visiting our website www.sandpipertours.com and checking the trips section where you can find all the proposals with a good description and photos. I recommend spending almost 3 days at Buenos Aires and afterward to travel to another place in Argentina.
Check the video on our website, is amazing and describes our country really well.
Bare-faced Ibis
What other suggestions can you give to birders interested in your area? (for example, what to bring, which season to choose, etc.)
October and November are the best months really! Starts the breeding season and we receive plenty of migratory birds, the weather conditions are perfect in these months! Try to skip our winter if you visit the Patagonia region.
Ringed Kingfisher
If any reader of 10,000 Birds is interested in birding with you, how can they best contact you?
The best way is via our email info@sandpipertours.com or via our website www.sandpipertours.com
My profile on eBird is public if you like to check the latest trips >> https://ebird.org/profile/NDMzNDU5/world
Diego and Giselle guided my wife and me in early 2024 over three weeks from the high Andes near Salta to Ibera and Iguazu. I can recommend them and Sandpiper Birding without hesitation.