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.
In the last bulletin I was surprised at the few hummingbirds that we had for the trip. But we made up for it with almost 2 dozen funarids (woodcreepers, spinetails, foliage gleaners etc)
Woodcreepers are usually the easiest to see as they ascend the tree trunks and are very responsive to the tape.
The 12" Great Rufous Woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes major) is an easy ID with his size and no spots or streaks.
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| Great Rufous Woodcreeper |
His cousin the 11" White-throated Woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes albicollis) was also on the ground and an easy one to photograph.
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| White-throated Woodcreeper |
The 10" Planalto Woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptes platyrostris) is quite similar to the above bird but he has faint streaking on the throat and a smaller bill. I was looking for obvious differences and this bird has a noticeable yellow eye ring. I checked other photos of these birds online and it seems to be a difference, but it is not noted in the field guide.
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| Planalto Woodcreeper |
The 8.3" Plain-winged Woodcreeper (Dendrocincla turdina) is all brown without much streaking and he has a short black bill.
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| Plain-winged Woodcreeper |
The 8" Narrow-billed Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes augustirostris) is very different. He has very rufous wings and tail, a white face with a black stripe and almost pure white underneath. I must admit when I am concentrating on taking the photos in the field, I do not always notice these things until I work on the photos after the trip.
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| Narrow-billed Woodcreeper |
His cousin the 7.5" Scalloped Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes falcinellus) is one easiest told by voice. That is why I use a guide!
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| Scalloped Woodcreeper |
Lastly is the easiest bird to ID, the 10.5" Red-billed Scythebill (Campylorhamphus trochilirostris). He is a rufous bird with 3" almost semicircular red bill.
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| Red-billed Scythebill |
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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