After 3 trips to Colombia with diminishing returns, it was time to go further afield. Pablo Flores the guide in Colombia is now leading trips to Brazil as well. So my birding buddy Martin Jackson and my daughter Chantel and I decided to go there. We visited the Pantanal, the Atlantic forest in the Sao Paulo area and had 1 day in the Chapada. The Pantanal is the largest wetland in the world, so it is teeming with wildlife. The Atlantic Forest is a unique ecosystem from sea level to about 1 mile elevation. It contains 800 species of birds (225 endemic) and 26 species of primates. Unfortunately it also contains 2 mega cities - Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and the resulting sprawl and clearing for agriculture since the Portuguese arrived 500 years ago, has wiped out 90%+ of the original forest. About 250 species of amphibians, birds and mammals have gone extinct in the past 400 years. The good news is that many preserves and parks have been set aside to try and preserve the remaining biodiversity.
The 5.3" Red Pileated Finch (Coryphospingus cucullatus) is a brick red bird with a white eye ring and a crest that he can raise. as seen here.
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| Red Pileated Finch |
The 5" male Chestnut-bellied Seedfinch (Sporophila angolensis) is all brown below and otherwise black. He kind of resembles an Orchard Oriole.
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| Chestnut-bellied Seedfinch - male |
The 5" male Rufous-headed Tanager (Hemithraupis ruficapilla) is a yellow-green bird with an orange breast and red head. He is another endemic.
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| Rufous-headed Tanager - male |
The 6.5" male Black-goggled Tanager (Tricothraupis melanops) is an easy ID. The female lacks the 'goggles'.
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| Black-goggled Tanager - male |
The 5.5" male Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) is a very common bird seen on all my trips. The male is an easy ID with his blue green body and black head and yellow bill.
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| Green Honeycreeper - male |
The 6" Chestnut-backed Tanager (Stilpnia preciosa) is a multicolored bird and was formerly of the tangara genus
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| Chestnut-backed Tanager |
The tangara genus are the most gaudy colorful tanagers. The 5" Brassy-breasted Tanager (Tangara desmaresti) is a mostly green bird with a golden chest. He is another endemic.
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| Brassy-breasted Tanager |
The 5" Green-headed Tanager (Tangara seledon) is another multicolored bird and I think that he was our favorite tanager, as it was very common.
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| Green-headed Tanager |
I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing
David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com
photos copyright 2006 - 2024 David McDonald
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