Penguins Petrels And Prions Top Antarctica Bird Tour Spots - Nexta Expeditions
Penguins, Petrels, and Prions: Top Antarctica Bird Tour Spots

Penguins, Petrels, and Prions: Top Antarctica Bird Tour Spots

If anyone tells you Antarctica is for the birds, they’re right.

But only if they mean it literally, because birdwatchers and polar enthusiasts are well aware that Antarctica is one of the best birding hotspots on the planet.

Not only is Antarctica the only place you can see the eight polar penguin species, it’s also where some of the most beloved flying (and in some cases, very far-flying) seabirds can be found, which we’ve discussed in great detail in our Birds of the South entry.

But what Antarctic locations give you best odds of spotting these winged beauties? Well, straighten your tripods and spit-shine your lenses, because we’re about to tell you.

blog-image

The Drake Passage

Some of your best bird-spotting opportunities will take place before you even get to Antarctica.

After embarking from Ushuaia and entering the Drake Passage, you’ll pass what is known as the Antarctic Convergence, a natural boundary formed by north-flowing cold waters colliding with warmer sub-Antarctic waters.

This puts you in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone, where the marine life and bird life undergoes a shift.

In this nutrient-rich area, you may see wandering albatrosses, grey-headed albatrosses, black-browed albatrosses, light-mantled sooty albatrosses, cape pigeons, southern fulmars, Wilson’s storm petrels, blue petrels, and Antarctic petrels, to name a few.

blog-image

Danco Island

This starkly beautiful Antarctic island offers you the chance to see nesting gentoo penguins, to say nothing of the Weddell and crabeater seals to be found nearby.

blog-image

Port Lockroy & Jougla Point

After sailing through Neumayer Channel, you may get a chance to visit this former British research station, now a museum and post office, as well as Jougla Point. Here you have good odds of seeing gentoo penguins and blue-eyed shags.

blog-image

Half Moon Island

You may see chinstrap penguins (and Weddell seals) near Cámara Base, an Argentine scientific research station located on Half Moon Island.

blog-image

Cuverville Island

This small, precipitous island between the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula and Rongé Island houses a large colony of gentoo penguins as well as breeding brown skuas.

blog-image

Petermann & Pléneau Islands

These Antarctic islands, located in the Penola Strait just south of the Lemaire Channel, provide a great variety of birdlife, such as gentoo penguins. As for non-bird wildlife, leopard seals, crabeater seals, minke whales, and humpbacks may also be seen here.

blog-image

Deception Island

Actually a subducted crater, this island in the South Shetlands opens into the sea and creates a natural harbor for the ship. Multiple bird species can be spotted here, such as cape petrels, kelp gulls, brown and south polar skuas, and Antarctic terns.

Wilson’s storm petrels and black-bellied storm petrels also nest in the ruins of the whaling station in Whalers Bay.

blog-image

Fish Islands

You can encounter one of the Antarctic Peninsula’s southernmost Adélie penguin and blue-eyed shag colonies in the Fish Islands.

blog-image

Antarctic Sound

There are sometimes emperors and Adélie penguins on the ice floes here, as well as kelp gulls, skuas, and various breeds of petrel. The area is also very scenic in terms of landscape, with jagged mountain peaks and enormous walls of ice lying shattered on their slopes.

blog-image

Brown Bluff

Located in the Antarctic Sound, Brown Bluff is perhaps the most scenic location in the entire northern tip of the Antarctic Continent: sheer canyon walls, fallen boulders, beautiful volcanic creations capped with ice.

Added to which, a large Adélie penguin rookery lives here, with gentoo penguins and nesting snow petrels also to be found.

blog-image

Gourdin Island

Chinstraps, gentoos, and Adélie penguins are a few of the seabirds that love this island, which is found just around the corner from the northwestern entrance to Antarctic Sound.

blog-image

Devil Island

Home to a large colony of Adélie penguins, Devil Island offers a magnificent vantage point for hikers willing to foot it to the top of the hill. Melting ice sometimes forms a waterfall dropping from the cliffs close to Cape Well-met.

blog-image

Snow Hill Island (rare)

Helicopters allow us to reach the famed emperor penguin colony found here, but nature makes the rules in Antarctica: If conditions aren’t favorable, we can’t take the risk of flying.

If they are, however, you’ll spend about two days at this coveted penguin rookery.

The helicopter operation takes a full day, and the flight duration is approximately 15 minutes. Each helicopter can accommodate 4 – 6 passengers per flight, and the landing site is carefully chosen so that the penguins are not disturbed.

Upon arrival, it’s about a 45-minute walk to the rookery and what is perhaps the most endearing congregation of emperor penguins (and chicks) in all Antarctica.

blog-image

Blog
go-leftgo-right

Eight Engaging Reindeer Facts - Nexta Expeditions
Blog

Eight Engaging Reindeer Facts

When we think about reindeer, we might also think of Saami herders or the holidays or teams of these beloved Arctic animals pulling a bell-covered sleigh across the nighttime sky. Only the first of these options, however, is something you're likely to encounter on an Arctic expedition cruise - and that's only in Northern Norway.
9 Facts about the Greenland Shark - Nexta Expeditions
Blog

9 Facts about the Greenland Shark

The Greenland shark, or Somniosus microcephalus, is one of many fish that inhabit the waters around Greenland, though this is not the only area in which the shark resides. These sharks, sometimes referred to as “gray sharks” or “gurry sharks,” can also be found in the north Atlantic Ocean near Iceland, Norway, and Canada.
Eight Antarctic Misconceptions - Nexta Expeditions
Blog

Eight Antarctic Misconceptions

Antarctica has given rise to some pretty far-fetched rumors.
Earth vs. Mars: Polar Regions Compared - Nexta Expeditions
Blog

Earth vs. Mars: Polar Regions Compared

It’s well-known that Mars, like Earth, has its own polar regions, often referred to as the Martian ice caps. These regions, similar to Earth's, are situated at the north and south poles and experience much lower temperatures compared to the areas in-between.
How Arctic Wildlife Differs from Antarctic - Nexta Expeditions
Blog

How Arctic Wildlife Differs from Antarctic

While the north and south poles share certain characteristics, they are also remarkably distinct. Both regions are cold and dry, yet each has its own unique terrain and climate. The Antarctic is particularly harsh and inhospitable, with only two native vascular plant species, whereas the Arctic tundra supports a wider range of fauna due to its relatively warmer temperatures and greater plant diversity. Here are some of the animals you can find in the Arctic compared to the Antarctic.
Living the Antarctic Dream - Nexta Expeditions
Blog

Living the Antarctic Dream

From October to March, during the Austral summer, thousands of breeding gentoo, Adèlie, and chinstrap penguins flock to the Western Antarctic Peninsula to rear their chicks and feast on krill before the harsh winter arrives. Alongside the penguins, field biologists from around the world gather to study these habits for conservation research. Observing these animals is one thing, but residing in an Antarctic field station for an entire breeding season is another. One particular field camp on King George Island, managed by American scientists, has perfected this Antarctic lifestyle and has thrived for over 30 years.
Arctic and Antarctic Basecamp Cruises – Choose Your Own Adventure - Nexta Expeditions
Blog

Arctic and Antarctic Basecamp Cruises – Choose Your Own Adventure

There’s an astonishing variety of activities to choose from when planning an Arctic trip or Antarctic cruise, which can be a bit overwhelming. How do you choose just one voyage over another when you want to experience everything? Happily, you don’t have to give up one activity for another. Basecamp cruises have you covered.
The Small Mammals of the Arctic and Antarctica - Nexta Expeditions
Blog

The Small Mammals of the Arctic and Antarctica

As Lillian Gish says in Night of the Hunter, “It’s a hard world for little things.”
Spitsbergen: a true polar bear trip - Nexta Expeditions
Blog

Spitsbergen: a true polar bear trip

On the third day of our Svalbard cruise, we navigated through the sea ice north of Spitsbergen. The morning greeted us with fog and fragmented ice, but conditions gradually improved. A swarm of black-legged kittiwakes trailed behind us, as our ship stirred the waters, pushing aside ice floes to reveal the tiny dark polar cod beneath.