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.
Puffbirds are great for photography as they usually sit still while looking around for some large insects or lizards.
The 8" White-eared Puffbird (Nystalus chacuru) has a brown back, black face with white ear patch and white underside. His beak is orange.
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| White-eared Puffbird |
His cousin, the 7.5" Caatinga Puffbird (Nystalus maculatus) also stayed still, but unfortunately he was high in a tree. He is brown above with an orang breast and spotted flanks. It is endemic to Brazil.
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| Caatinga Puffbird |
The 7.5" Crescent-chested Puffbird (Malacoptila striata) is an easy ID with the brown head and orange streaking. It is endemic to Brazil.
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| Crescent-chested Puffbird |
Lastly, the 10" Black-fronted Nunbird (Monasa nigrifrons) is dark gray with black around the red bill. This is a widespread bird in Latin America. I have seen it on many trips.
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| Black-fronted Nunbird |
Now we turn to everyone's favorite - the toucans. I will describe them in order of size. All of them were life birds for me.
The 12.5" male Spot-billed Toucanet (Selenidera maculirostris) has a green back, black head and chest, green around the eye and a gray bill with black spots on the upper mandible.
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| Spot-billed Toucanet - male |
Next is the amazing 13.5" Saffron Toucanet (Pteroglossus bailloni). He is an easy ID. At the lodge, they came to feeders and actually I was able to hand feed him a banana.
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| Saffron Toucanet |
The 16" Chestnut-eared Aracari (Pteroglossus castanotis) was high up on a dead snag. He has a greenish back, rusty neck and yellow belly with a single red band.
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| Chestnut-eared Aracari |
The 18" Red-breasted Toucan (Ramphastos dicolorus) is an easy ID.
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| Red-breasted Toucan |
Lastly is the huge 24" Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco). We only saw this one on the trip but wow what a spectacular bird with his huge orange bill. He is the largest member of the toucan family.
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| Toco Toucan |
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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