Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016 www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected]Page 1 A Tropical Birding SET DEPARTURE tour Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon 18 July – 1 August 2016 TOUR LEADER: ANDRES VASQUEZ Photos by Andres Vasquez One of the top 3 birds of the trip as voted by the participants, the astonishing Hyacinth Macaw
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Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon - Tropical Birding · 2016. 11. 28. · Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016 +1-409-515-9110 [email protected]
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Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
It is difficult to put into words a trip like this, when you have seen many of South America’s most iconic animals and birds in only 15 days of focused birding. While searching for every possible species, we repeatedly got out of our vans for another Red-legged Seriema or Giant Anteater, and on other occasions we birded from the comfort of canoes that ride along some of the most scenic rivers, to find Giant Otters, Sunbitterns, Agami Herons, Sungrebes, and the most wanted of all mammals in the region, the majestic Jaguar.
We did, in fact, cover three distinct biomes during the trip: the start of the tour visited the scrubby, dry Cerrado, then we continued to the vast Amazon rainforest, with its huge biodiversity enclosed in a mosaic of micro ecosystems, and finished in the Pantanal where the open nature of the country let us scan long distances to see running Greater Rheas, Southern Screamers, Jaguarundi, and an uncountable amount of waterbirds concentrated on the remaining waterholes, co-existing with large number of caiman laying along the banks.
Yes, we saw all that, and the final numbers revealed 450 species of birds seen (plus another 32 heard) among which the highlights included, apart from those mentioned above: Collared Crescentchest, Dot-eared Coquette, Blue-tufted Starthroat, and Coal-crested Finch in the Cerrado, 43 species of Antbirds (largely in the Amazon), together with Pompadour Cotinga, Collared Puffbird, one of the few records of Green Oropendola in Cristalino Jungle Lodge, Cryptic Forest Falcon, and Razor-billed Curassow on the borders of the Cristalino River, Dark-winged Trumpeter, Common, Long-tailed and Great Potoos, the unique Hyacinth Macaw, and bright Toco Toucans in the Pantanal. I have to mention again the Jaguar, with multiple sightings and 5 individuals involved: one pregnant female, a fully mature male, plus a mother with a young cub, and its older brother. Magical.
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
A mom, a young cub and older brother Jaguar crossing the Cuiaba River
Daily Summary:
Days 2 and 3 – The Cerrado:
The trip started with a 5am departure towards the outskirts of the small city of Chapada Dos Guimaraes where good Cerrado habitat holds the target birds of this region. Birding along the Agua Fria road we soon found a very responsive Rufous-winged Antshrike, a couple of Black-throated Saltators and various tanager species like White-rumped, White-banded and Black-faced Tanagers. We were trying to locate a skittish Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant, which we saw briefly, when a major target for this site started singing next to us. We soon managed to track it down and got good views (but only decent pictures) of this Collared Crescentchest (photo next page). That night we met Arjan Dwarshuis, the Dutch young birder who just smashed Noah Striker’s World Record during his big year; we gave Arjan the spot for this crescentchest which he had missed the previous day; we later found out he got it that time.
To get some more of the specialties of this habitat, the next day we visited another famous road, the Geladeira Road, which hosted a large number of hummingbirds out of which the most common were Blue-tufted Starthroat, Blue-tailed Emerald and White-vented Violetear plus we had views of a female Dot-eared Coquette (not seen by all) and, sadly, only the guide got good views of a male Horned Sungem. We struggled at first but at the end we got nice looks of White-eared Puffbird (photos on page 6), Curl-crested Jays and a female Coal-crested Finch too.
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
Both days, after spending the early mornings in the Cerrado ecosystem we moved inside gallery forests of this area that holds some very interesting birds, which are distinctly more colorful than the birds in the nearby scrubby Cerrado. Among those it is worth mentioning we saw Amazonian Motmot, Blue-crowned Trogon, and two bright species of manakins, the minute Fiery-capped and the gaudy Band-tailed (photos page 6). Other birds of note here were, Brown and Rufous-tailed Jacamars, White-wedged Piculet, Golden-crowned (White-bellied) Warbler, and Yellow-tufted Woodpecker.
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
The second morning we had to cut birding short at about 9h30am since we needed to drive back to the city of Cuiaba to catch a flight to Alta Floresta, the gateway to the Amazon, in the north of Mato Grosso state.
Days 4 to 7 – The Amazon: After a short flight we arrived in Alta Floresta where the staff from Cristalino Jungle Lodge received us and got us in a confortable van that in an hour-long drive took us northwards until we reached the Teles Pires River, where we took the boats to ride to the lodge. Before reaching the river, we stopped once at a famous palm grove area where we intended to find the streaky Point-tailed Palmcreeper and got it with ease, together with a few other species, like Fork-tailed Palm-Swifts. We got into the lodge quite late in the afternoon, so we stayed just around the lodge grounds looking for some of the common species that inhabit the open areas.
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
During the next four days we were going to explore the main habitats or micro ecosystems of the area that have quite distinct avifauna, each with its own specialties. The main micro ecosystems in Cristalino are terra firme canopy, terra firme understory, stunted “highland” forest, river edges and river islands.
The “highland” stunted forests are a very interesting habitat characteristic of this southern part of central Amazonia, and it is due to the volcanic Pahoehoe lava-like appearance the ground of this area has once you reach the top of some rocky hills through a trail called the Serra Nova Trail. The forest here is short with vast open areas and some bushes that mainly inhabit the cracks of these black plate rocks. It was here that we found White-fringed Antwren, Natterer's Slaty-Antshrike, Brown-banded, Striolated and Pied Puffbirds, Paradise Jacamar, Short-tailed Pygmy-Tyrant, and Layard's (Lineated) Woodcreeper. Once the sun had become too intense, we headed back down towards the denser and taller forest, where we found a couple of flocks with some interesting birds like, Dusky-tailed Flatbill, White-browed Antbird, and White-shouldered and Saturnine Antshrikes.
It was from the two Cristalino canopy towers where we found the majority of the species - it is said that over 80% of the diversity and the activity on a rainforest occurs in the canopy. Due to this, we spent two full mornings above the canopy thanks to the high towers that emerge above the treetops. The list of birds we found from there is vast, but highlights included Black-girdled Barbet, Black-necked, Lettered, Red-necked and Curl-crested Aracaris, Gould's Toucanet, Scale-breasted, Red-necked, Ringed and Crimson-crested Woodpeckers, Spangled and Pompadour Cotingas, Red-billed Pied Tanager (photo above), Green-and-gold, Turquoise, Paradise, and Yellow-backed Tanagers, Pygmy and Sclater's Antwrens, Tooth-billed Wren, Red-and-green and Blue-and-yellow Macaws, Kawall's and White-bellied Parrots, Crimson-bellied Parakeet, White-browed Hawk, Spix's Guan and dozens more.
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
We dedicated a morning to visit the river islands on the Teles Pires River, since they hold some special birds. For instance, next to one island, there are stretches of the river that become narrow to form rapids; there is one species that specializes on these, the local Black-collared Swallow. In the short vegetation on early succession islands we found the small and localized Amazonian Tyrannulet, and close by we saw the miniscule Spotted Tody-Flyactcher. The star of the morning, (well, stars since we saw 5 in total), was the sought-after Amazonian Umbrellabird. We then had to work a little for a couple of antbirds, but we did find Mato Grosso Antbird, plus Amazonian, Chestnut-backed and Glossy Antshrikes.
A couple of afternoons were used to navigate up and down the Cristalino River in search of some birds that occur near the edges of the river. We did a lot of birding from the canoe but also did a few short stops on shore, to call a few things in from the typically tangly vegetation along the margins of the water. From the boat we saw some awesome things, like a couple of Razor-billed Curassows (photo on next page), Sunbitterns, Pied Lapwings, Green Ibis. We called and called for a Zigzag Heron, but in the end it was only Andres who managed to see it flew away. Smaller birds like Gray-chested Greenlet, Hauxwell's Thrush, Silvery and Band-tailed Antbirds, and White-banded Swallows were also seen around the water. At dusk, we also got a few Short-tailed Nighthawks flying above our heads from the boat. During the few targeted landings we did along the river edges, we managed to find some special birds of this part of the Amazon, namely Cryptic Forest-Falcon (photo left), Flame-crowned (Flame-crested) Manakin, Bronzy Jacamar, and Amazonian Streaked-Antwren. In one of the stops, birding a little deeper inside the forest, we found a flock of passerines that were mobbing an Amazonian Pygmy-Owl; some of these were Short-billed Honeycreeper, Black-throated Mango, Tooth-billed Wren, and a horde of tanagers.
The understory of the Amazon is quite challenging, given the much-reduced light that reaches the lower portions of this tall forest. Nevertheless, birding here can be very rewarding especially if you see, (as we did), for instance the sought after and gorgeous Collared Puffbird, the local Rose-breasted Chat, or the striking Blue-cheeked Jacamar. Also extremely rewarding is achieving good views of one of the most sought after families of the Neotropics and in fact the most iconic groups of birds from the Amazon understory, the antbirds. We happily saw a good number of them and, even better, we managed really good views of most. Walking the trails in the mornings we found Plain-winged, Saturnine and Cinereous Antshrikes, and Plain-throated, White-flanked, Dot-winged, and Long-winged Antwrens, and Black-faced, Black-throated, Spix's Warbling-, Striated, Gray, and White-browed Antbirds.
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
Apart from those, for which we had to work the old fashion way, we saw various species coming to water holes inside the forest. The forest was so dry that we needed to carry water from the river to feed the waterholes and attract the birds. From the blinds set in front the holes we saw Bare-eyed, Dot-backed, Spot-backed, and Xingu Scale-backed Antbirds, plus Spot-winged Antshrike from that family. In addition to antbirds we were lucky to see Ruddy Quail-Dove, White-crowned and Snow-capped Manakins (photo below), Striped Woodcreeper, White-winged Shrike-Tanager, and from two different blinds saw groups of Dark-winged Trumpeters.
Finally, by night, the Amazon holds a good number of owls and nightjars. Right around the grounds of the lodge we found a distant, but cooperative, Crested Owl and had a very close look at a Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl. Sadly we only managed to hear a couple Ocellated Poorwills, but we had the most amazing looks of the rare Long-tailed Potoo (photo page 10). Our EXCELLENT local guide, Jorge, had roosting spots for Ladder-tailed and Blackish Nightjars too.
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
Days 8 to 14 – The Pantanal: after our time in the Amazon we were transferred to the town of Alta Floresta to take a flight back to Cuiaba, and start our time in the Pantanal. A short drive southwest of the airport got us to the lovely Pousada Piuval where we stayed two nights.
The grounds behind the lodge are simply incredible, and the first morning’s birding in Piuval is unmatchable, lifers coming fast and furious. The open grounds produced Greater Rheas, Sunbitterns, Savannah Hawks,
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
Jabirus, Buff-necked, Green, and Plumbeous Ibises, Turquoise-fronted (Blue-fronted) and Yellow-crowned Parrots, a tree full of Hyacinth Macaws, Chaco Chachalacas, the first of various White Woodpeckers and Campo Flickers, a lone Crane Hawk and much more!
When the sun started to be inclement, and it was too hot to remain in the open areas, we decided to move towards a nice patch of cooler, shaded forest with taller trees. There is also some dense scrub in between the trees which host a few birds that we got, namely Black-bellied Antwren, Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant, Mato Grosso Antbird (photo below), and Planalto Slaty-Antshrike. The upper levels of this gallery forest provided good activity with some birds like Forest and Greenish Elaenias, White-wedged Piculet, Little Woodpecker, Sibilant (Eastern) Sirystes, Orange-backed Troupial, Large-billed Antwren, Chestnut-eared Aracari, and Blue-crowned Trogon, among others.
After a rest post-lunch, to give time for the temperature to drop a little, we went out again towards the observation tower (that overlooks a large lake and the surrounding grounds). We actually never needed to climb the tower itself, or even saw it, but the grounds nearby are always typically great for birds. We found a cooperative Yellowish Pipit, a roosting Great Horned Owl (this is a very pale subspecies), a singing Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, a hunting Aplomado Falcon, Orange-backed Troupial and, in the floating vegetation near the water we were fortunate to see a full adult Azure Gallinule, the first for the guide in the Pantanal. Close to dusk, we moved back to the lodge and managed to see very well an Undulated Tinamou that came out in the open to drink water from a small pond on the side of the road. That time of the afternoon is
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
the best time, and Piuval is one of the best places to find the majestic Giant Anteater (photo below), which we saw right before dusk. This was the best find of the afternoon for sure.
Next day, we went as early as possible towards an always-birdy stretch of the Transpantaneira Highway near Piuval where tall reeds host a nice population of the impressive Scarlet-hooded Blackbirds (photo left) as the main attraction of the site, but also Greater
Thornbirds were very cooperative here, as well as Rusty-backed Antwrens, Donacobius, Rusty-collared
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
Seedeaters and a few other species. I was a little worried at the start of the day before going out towards the highway since we still had not seen by then one of the most iconic birds of the Pantanal, but happily with the light still quite scarce as the sun was just raising, we found a beautiful Red-legged Seriema (photo below) very close to the entrance road of the lodge.
We moved right after lunch southwards towards the Hotel Pantanal Mato Grosso placed right next to the avifauna-rich Pixaim River, where there are two main ways to bird the area: one is very relaxed from the comfort of a boat while cruising the river, and the other is by walking the narrow trails that cut through a dense patch of gallery forest.
Both afternoons we did boat rides from the middle of the afternoon until dark. This was an amazing, tranquil, enjoyable birding experience, not forgetting we also found some great birds. As a summary, we saw perched Golden-collared Macaws, 5 species of Kingfishers (including American Pygmy and Green-and-rufous), multiple Rufescent Tiger-Herons, Capped Herons, a couple of Sungrebes, Giant Otters, Black-collared Hawks and one of the favorite birds of the trip, the supreme Agami Heron of which we got great views but only poor photos given the darkness of the spot it was foraging at and the scarce sunlight of late afternoon; in fact I do not how the local boat driver, Anderson, spotted the bird in the first place!
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
The gallery forest gave us a host of different species but provided more challenging birding. We had to call a few birds and hope for them to respond to playback. In the end, we found a few shy birds, good views of only a female Helmeted Manakin but only brief views of a male, the gorgeous Golden-green Woodpecker (photo below) a male Cream-colored Woodpecker, Rufous Casiornis, Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant, Fuscous Flycatcher, Pale-legged Hornero, Red-billed Scythebill, Hooded Tanager, and on a side trail we were shown a roosting Great Potoo.
After the second morning in the Pixaim area, we needed to move south again with some birding en route getting things like the shy Dull-capped Attila, the loud Fawn-breasted Wren and the skulking Southern Antpipit before reaching our final destination on this tour, the area of Porto Jofre, where we stayed two nights. From this moment on birding was relegated to second priority, we knew that very little in terms of birds would be added to the list by this stage, and so focused on the main target of this part of the tour, the grandiose Jaguar.
Based in this comfortable lodge, located right on the north shore of the Ciuaba River, we were going to take several boat rides upriver to scan the borders in search of this great beast. We did not waste time, and right after a nice lunch, we headed towards the pier to board our speedboat and start cruising the waters.
Only 10 minutes after we took off, we received notification that just a kilometer ahead not one, but three Jaguars were spotted, so we rushed there. And yes, there we were experiencing that magical moment that everybody that visits the Pantanal dreams of having. A mom Jaguar and her
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
two cubs swam across the Cuiaba River right in front of our boat. We were rapt and remained watching the kitties until they disappeared inside the vegetation above the bank.
We felt like we were already satisfied but then we thought “well, we are already here, let’s try to find another one” so greedy us, we continued up the river in search for more. This certainly released a lot of pressure, and we had a much more relaxed time in Porto Jofre from then on, so we could stop a lot more to take some photos of other birds, river otters and capybaras.
That same afternoon we ran into another boat that had found a male Jaguar just a few minutes earlier, but it had hidden itself inside the bushes next to the river. We decided to wait a little to see if it would come back out
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
and the patience paid off when a large individual emerged out of the tall reeds and stared at us in the most passive way. The carefree cat started to walk along the shore and we followed it for over half a mile; eventually it stopped and gave us glances much in the manner of actor Bill Murray promoting a whisky brand on the movie “Lost in translation”! This beautiful individual kept us entertained for over 40 minutes, sometimes laying down on an open beach, stretching and yawning, and afterwards approaching the river to drink, swimming across the river and even making a couple of attempts at catching a caiman. What an incredible experience that was.
Next day, we decided to go out again on the boat, but this time we decided to go for the thrill of finding one ourselves, so we decided not to listen to the radio in case other boats had already found one; we wanted to get our own Jag. After a couple of hours of searching our good driver took us to a side tributary of the river where we had had some luck in the past, and boom, our own cat, just for us at least for a few minutes, before other boats arrived. It was a pregnant female that was sunbathing just above the bank resting. Mission accomplished, we returned to the hotel for lunch. That afternoon we decided not to do any more boat rides and instead just remain around the grounds of the hotel to photograph the Toco Toucans (photo on next page) and Hyacinth Macaws that had made the trees on the hotel’s extensive property their home.
The last day of the tour is basically required to head back north towards Ciuaba along the entire Transpantaneira Highway doing some occasional stops here and there to break up this long journey. We
Tropical Birding Trip Report Brazil: The Pantanal and Amazon July-Aug 2016
picked up a few interesting things during this ride: a distant but distinct Jaguarundi that walked a few meters along the road towards us, and two species of deer, Marsh Deer and Red Brocket.
Final list of recorded species:
Please find below the checklist of all the species of birds and mammals recorded during this awesome trip. The total of birds recorded stands at 482 of which 32 were heard only (marked H), and 8 were seen only by the tour leader (marked L). 23 species of mammal were also recorded.
RHEAS RHEIDAE
Greater Rhea Rhea americana
TINAMOUS TINAMIDAE
H Great Tinamou Tinamus major H Cinereous Tinamou Crypturellus cinereus