#also ive never seen a tarantula irl that makes me so sad. its one of my life goals.

[darklight-owl]

Can you tell us more about the species you like please?

👀Well since you asked...

This is a chucao (photo sources 1 2) they're the first bird whose call I learned to identify because of how characteristic it is so that's why they're my fav birds. They live in the south, curious little creatures but very timid. You probably won't know there's one close to you until they sing and fly away. Oh yeah, also, they are LOUD. First time I heard one I got so startled lmao 😭 it was all quiet and then that thang screamed in my ear. It's like a birdwatcher rite of passage i think lol

This critter (photo source) is a band-winged nightjar (commonly called "gallina ciega" or "blind chicken" here) and they're completely nocturnal. First time I saw them was when I'd gone to stay over at my friend's house to go birdwatching in the early morning but we decided "hey since we're all here let's go on a night hike". We went to the hill at 12am and started heading back at 2am when we saw one of these fly over our heads and land on the path. They're extremely quiet, almost like ghosts. And their eyes glow super brightly especially when you shine a light on them (which you shouldn't do at least not for an extended period of time poor things lmao). Supposedly their cry is super eerie as well, but I've never heard it. Anyway there were like three of those that night. My group overslept the next morning but it was so worth it.

This (photo source) is a degu or ratón cola de pincel (brush-tailed mouse). There's cooler small mammals in Chile like vizcachas or yacas but unlike those I have actually seen degus irl which make them more special TO ME. The trick to spotting them is that they tend to reuse the same paths a lot and only go out in the early mornings, so if you arrive at a decent time and watch the burrows for long enough you'll see dozens of them running from one burrow to another or looking for food or even picking fights with each other. They're really cute it's always a joy to see them. Also the reason why people need to get their fucking dirtbikes out of the trails and put their damn dogs on leashes stop being a hazard to degus please :(

Finally this (image source) is a chilean bumblebee. They used to be far more common but have been outcompeted by the invasive european bumblebee and now they're endangered can only be found in remote locations far away from humans. I've seen one exactly once in my life and it was a really special sight. I don't know much about them unfortunately but they're a staple of chilean wildlife and super super important for the ecosystem, there's several plants that rely on them.

I'd love to keep rambling on about animals I've seen/heard (especially birds i love peucos and tapaculos and turcas and chercans and-) but I've been typing for long enough lmao. The funny thing is Chile's like the least biodiverse country in South America but we still have all this. So like. Naturalism is for everyone i think like even if you think you don't have any animals where you live i guarantee you have something to gather around in a circle with your friends and point at and go "OOOOO🫵🫵🫵🫵🫵" at.