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.
There are many different families of birds (currently 253 - a new one was created in January 2022). It is always fun for me to see and photo a bird in a new family for me. I had 4 new ones for this trip. The first 2 birds I had seen on a previous visit to the Pantanal long before I started photography.
The 60" Greater Rhea (Rhea americana) is a flightless ratite bird in southern South America. There are 2 species of rheas. It is of course an easy ID.
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| Greater Rhea |
Another long-legged bird is the peculiar 36" Red-legged Seriema (Cariama cristata). There are also 2 species of seriema. It is another easy ID.
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Red-legged Seriema |
Here he is with his neck bent hollering. He was kind of comical watching this performance.
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| Red-legged Seriema |
The next 2 birds were lifers as well as the first time I photographed a member of the family.
The 19" Sunbittern (Eurypga helias) resembles a heron but he is the only member in the family.
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| Sunbittern |
The last is the 5" Rufous Gnateater (Conopophaga lineata). There are 12 species in the gnateater family. They resemble and follow the antpittas in the bird list. In fact 2 of the 12 were formerly classified as antpittas and still retain the name despite moving to their correct family classification.
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| Rufous Gnateater - male |
Africa has the Big 5 animals that people want to see on a safari. Brazil also has a Big 5. I photoed 2 of them on the trip.
Of course the prize is the Jaguar (Panthera onca). It is the 3rd largest cat in the world. It is about 6' long with a weight up to 350 pounds. It has the most powerful bite of any cat to pierce the shells of turtles. It kills its prey in an unusual way. It bites right through the skull to destroy the brain.
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| Jaguar |
Here is the classic photo of the jaguar seen in books - the cat asleep on a branch. We were in a boat almost directly underneath the animal - about 25 feet away!
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| Jaguar |
The second of the Big 5 was the Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis). This member of the weasel family is 5' long but weighs only about 65 pounds. The white markings on the throat and chest are unique and allow researchers to recognize individuals. They are listed as endangered due to previous hunting and habitat loss. The population was estimated at 5,000 in the wild in 1999. I had seen the otter on my previous trip to the Pantanal .
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| Giant Otter |
They are a very social animal and family groups stay and play together. We watched a group for at least 30 minutes around their dens in the river bank. Here is an adult with a couple of smaller ones.
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| Giant Otter |
The South American Coati (Nasua nasua) is a member of the racoon family. They weigh 10 -15 pounds and come in a couple of colors. This one is brown with a ringed tail
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| South American Coati |
Here is a second one that looks black.
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| South American Coati |
Lastly is the Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous). It is a small dog weighing 10 - 17 pounds.
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| Crab-eating Fox |
David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com
photos copyright 2006 - 2024 David McDonald
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