When she was 15 years old, our daughter went on an AFS student exchange that had her living in Argentina with a host family for a year. One of the adventures she enjoyed was a 10-day trip that included Iguazu Falls and nearby Parque das Aves.
An avid photographer, both the story and photos below are by Sarah Albom at age 16, while living in Argentina.
The Parque das Aves or Bird Park, not far from the Brazilian border and the Iguazu Falls, is the largest bird park in Latin America.
Full of incredible birds, butterflies, and plant life, Parque das Aves was the next stop on my AFS student exchange trip after Iguazu.
Though we visited on a relatively rainy day, there were still lots of birds out and about. The place was incredibly vibrant, and one of my favourite photo opportunities so far.
Photo tour of Parque das Aves
Final thoughts
Parque das Aves was part of a nine-day side trip to Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls that I went on during my yearlong AFS exchange program in Argentina. I had a marvellous time, and it was great to be able to meet exchange students that were staying all around the country.
My exchange has now ended and I’m back in New Zealand. It was an incredible experience, and I loved every second. It helped me grow so much as a person and is an experience I will never forget.
* * * * * * *
More on visiting this bird park
- Open Tuesday to Sunday, from 8:30am to 4:30pm (Closed on Monday)
- Located in Brazil, next to the Iguaçu National Park at Av. das Cataratas, KM 17.1, Foz do Iguaçu
- Parking is available in a private lot nearby, or take bus Line 120 (From downtown to the National Park).
- Annually over 900,000 people visit Parque Das Aves.
More from South America
Starting with our South American itinerary and our general safety tips for travelling in the region.
Daniel LaFrance
You’ve amassed a fantastic set of photos from your travels. I agree… you no doubt have grown from your experiences. Treasure and keep alive the memories.
Trisha Velarmino
Wow, I love your photos! I lived in Brazil before and didn’t get to see such lovely birds. Wish we knew the name of the golden one! It’s my favorite from this article.
Trisha Velarmino
*Argentina lol not Brazil 🙂
Cathy
Every color of the rainbow covered in these gorgeous photos! I like the toucan the best, such crisp colors!
Pedro
As a Brazilian, it took me ages to visit Foz. But once there, I loved every minute of it, including my visit to Parque das Aves. Lovely pictures, by the way!
bettyl - NZ
These are fantastic looking birds with awesome colors! Your photos are fabulous.
Ruth
These birds are beautiful! Places like these are some of my favorite. Reminds of a similar place I visited in Honduras (probably smaller and with less variety).
Neesie
You have a stunning collection of photographs here Sarah. The toucan reminded me of the Hornbill’s that used to come and visit us every afternoon when we lived in Brunei. I’m currently painting birds so maybe I need to paint a toucan or hornbill.
Thanks for sharing 😀
Carmen's Luxury Travel
These are some of the most beautiful birds I’ve ever seen! Their colors are fantastic. Beautiful photographs, thanks for sharing. Happy travels 🙂
Jennifer Melroy
I really like the Green-Beaked Tucan. I am also a fan of the bird with the feathers sticking out of his head. It reminds me of the National Bird of Uganda. You got some great bird pictures and I can’t tell a few were taken in an aviary.
Photo Cache
I love going to bird parks. There’s so much beauty in birds.
Claudia | ImagesByCW
I am not much into birds, but would definitely love to visit if just for all the incredible colors. Wow – those scarlet Ibis and the unknown yellow bird, so beautiful. Your close up shot of the green beaked toucan is awesome!
Ami Bhat
Those birds are just amazing. Especially the Toucan. So colorful and nice. Well captured. I sure would love to capture some of these in my camera.
Sandy N Vyjay
The beauty of the birds is just amazing. I was ignorant about some of the most beautiful species of birds as well. The colour of their feathers and beaks in enchanting! A sunday well spent.
Bryna | Dotted Line Travels
Beautiful photos! I love how colourful they are. Also that first yellow plant/flower is so pretty!
Carol
My favorite is the golden unknown bird. Love all of them really.
Pat
Such beautiful tropical birds! I love the Toucan and the Scarlet Ibis.
Sarah E. Albom
Thanks Pat. My favourite is the Toucan as well.
Paul Pietrangelo
A whole group of Scarlet Ibises, wow I love the photo. So much red. Thank you for these beautiful birds Sarah. I got a lot of learning to do when it comes to taking photos. You & your mother are fantastic. See ya soon.
Cruisin Paul
Sarah E. Albom
Thanks Paul. I really liked the vibrance of the ibises. In fact I was a bit worried that they would look too vibrant and fake when I downloaded them onto the computer.
Anda
I visited this aviary when I was in Argentina too. It’s very close to Iguazu Falls. the cab drivers will take you across the border without a visa because they have an understanding with the local authorities. I loved the birds there. To my surprise, the Tucan was extremely friendly.
Sarah E. Albom
How much does it cost to go in a taxi? It seems like it would be very expensive.
L. Diane Wolfe
That close up of the green-billed Tucan is beautiful.
Sarah E. Albom
Thanks Diane, it’s my favourite as well.
kim Marie Ostrowski
That golden unknown bird I think MIGHT be (but don’t quote me on it) a pheasant.
and I do love the tucan photos esp. the green billed that is so cool it’s got that tint of green to it.
Sarah E. Albom
Hmm, I’m not sure. I’ll look it up. I think it had some strange, exotic name though.
Barbara Radisavljevic
I’m partial to the tucan in the first photo. I can’t get over the size of that colorful beak.
Sarah E. Albom
I’m pretty sure it’s the same size as the body, which is impressive.
Vishal Vashisht
Don’t worry about the names, the photos are so incredible I really loved them. Seeing the birds that we don’t regularly see made me happy.
Sarah E. Albom
There were birds from all over the world, which was amazing.
Ruth Johnston
My son is an avid bird photographer. We went on an Africa safari and he was more interested on the birds that sat on the hippos back than the hippo. Your toucan photo is incredible!
Sarah E. Albom
Jaja I can imagine that. The birds are incredible. I don’t have a lens with enough zoom to take photos of them regularly but here the birds were so close it didn’t matter.
Comedy Plus
My favorite is your favorite. All these shots are fabulous. So very colorful too.
Have a fabulous day. 🙂
Sarah E. Albom
It’s so beautiful, isn’t it? Thanks Sandee.
Susan
Awesome bird pictures, Sarah! It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I do especially like the green eye of the green-beaked tucan. That’s a stunning picture.
Sarah E. Albom
It took me a few shots to get one where the eye was fully in focus. Thanks Susan.
Lexa Cain
Love them all, but that Scarlet Ibis is really something. I looked up the unknown ones on google and couldn’t find anything helpful, either there were lists of bird names with no pics or there were pics with no bird names. But your pic of the gold bird with the long tail was there with a link to this blog! I hope you get a lot of hits here coz your pictures are spectacular!!
Sarah E. Albom
Wow, that was fast! I didn’t expect it to be up there. What did you search?
Alex J. Cavanaugh
Some really colorful birds. Amazing some let you get that close.
And I Googled it – that last one is a grey crowned crane.
Sarah E. Albom
Thank you so much! You’re much better at research than I am, clearly.
Vicki Louise
Beautiful photos – I love the vibrancy in the toucan’s beak in that first shot. The contrast against the black feather is so striking – and it’s sweet they’re so friendly and not scared by people.
Sarah E. Albom
They were pretty cheeky to be honest, but very fun.
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Hi Sarah – birds are quite extraordinary aren’t they … fantastic photos you’ve given us with some of their names .. loved seeing this and definitely this Bird Park would be on my list if and when I ever get to South America … perhaps I’d better drill down a little and say Argentina! Fantastic photos – thank you .. cheers Hilary
Sarah E. Albom
It was incredible and I strongly recommend it for all future Argentina-goers.
Lyn aka The Travelling Lindfields
David and I didn’t go to the Bird Park when we visited Iguazu. At the time I thought birds were a bit boring but after seeing toucans in the wild around the falls I was sorry we hadn’t included it in our itinerary. If I ever get back to Iguazu the Bird Park will be at the top of my list.
Sarah E. Albom
What a shame. The Bird Park was one of my favourite parts of the trip. I recommend going back just to see it.