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 Tyrant Flycatcher family has the most species of any of the bird families (447 currently). So as before on other trips you find a lot of them. This trip to Brazil was no different 21 species of which 16 were new for me.
The 7.75" Brown-crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus tyrannulus) is typical for this genus with the brown back and head, gray breast and yellow belly. This bird also can be seen in south Texas.
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| Brown-crested Flycatcher |
His cousin is the 7" Swainson's Flycatcher (Myiarchus swainsoni). These birds are so similar that they are best separated by voice.
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| Swainson's Flycatcher |
The 8" Crested Black Tyrant (Knipolegus lophotes) is an all black flycatcher with a wispy crest and a red eye.
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| Crested Black Tyrant |
His cousin is the 7" Velvety Black Tyrant (Knipolegus lophotes). The male has a bushy crest and red eye.
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| Velvety Black Tyrant - male |
The female is similar but she has a rusty streaked throat.
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| Velvety Black Tyrant - female |
The 6" Scarlet Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) should look familiar to all of us in the USA. It was one of the 3 species split from Vermilion Flycatcher.
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| Scarlet Flycatcher |
The 6.5" Lesser Kiskadee (Philohydor lictor) is another bird that need sot be IDed by voice as there are many similarly colored species.
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| Lesser Kiskadee |
The 7" Rufous Casiornis (Casiornis rufus) is an attractive reddish brown bird but lighter on the breast.
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| Rufous Casiornis |
The 8.25" Grey-hooded Attila (Attila rufus) is similar to the above bird but the head is gray. He is a Brazil endemic.
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| Grey-hooded Attila |
The 7.75" Cattle Tyrant (Machetornis rixosa) is a commonly found bird in tropical America. He is usually on the ground.
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| Cattle Tyrant |
The 3.75" Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher (Todirostrum poliocephalum) is an easy ID. He is another Brazil endemic species.
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| Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher |
So with the 16 new flycatcher species on the trip, I have still only photographed 1/3 of the species in this largest family of birds.
I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing
David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com
photos copyright 2006 - 2025 David McDonald
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