2007 Tour Narrative
The bird list on the tour’s first day didn’t amount to much, given our delayed flight to Maceió and quick drive to the hotel. Along the way some had the briefest glimpse of what would turn out to be our only Black-backed Water-Tyrant, along with the usual Southern Lapwings, vultures and Tropical Kingbirds. The next two days and morning of birding in the Alagoas highlands were worth the wait. First flushing Scissor-tailed Nightjars in the predawn darkness on our way to Murici, we stopped to discuss the route we were taking when a flock of Red-shouldered Macaws cooperatively landed in the trees nearby. Arriving at our destination to discover unhelpfully windy conditions, we still managed to get a single Jandaya Parakeet in the scope, which was even more stunning when it flew by in the morning sun, showing off its flaming yellow and red plumage. The forest walk was relatively quiet, but Scalloped Antbird finally showed, while an amazingly cooperative pair of Red-stained Woodpeckers and a Grayish Mourner were more responsive to the tape. Our walk was almost continuously accompanied by the calls and wing snaps of various manakins, mostly Blue-backed, but also Red-headed and White-bearded, while mixed flocks contained White-flanked Antwren, Long-billed Gnatwren, Golden-spangled Piculet and Chestnut-bellied Euphonia. A Reddish Hermit that taped in to our faces was a wonderful experience with a bird that normally zips by unseen. A stop on the way out at a fruiting fig tree was quite a show, first with White-eared Marmosets scampering down the branches, followed by more Palm Tanagers than any of us had ever seen, a family group of Opal-rumped Tanagers, Violaceous Euphonias and a Red-rumped Cacique. A Long-tailed Woodnymph was nearby, while farther down the road we stopped for a Comb Duck trying hard not to associate too closely with the obviously domestic Muscovies. At the Coimbra reserve, highlights included Channel-billed Toucan (not seen well, but quite a rarity here these days), Pinto’s Spinetail (great views of this handsome bird), Plain and Streaked Xenopses, White-shouldered Antshrike (of the local and rare subspecies), Olivaceous Flatbill (at a nest) and several roaming flocks of Flame-crested Tanagers. In the open areas nearby we enjoyed a bold Striped Cuckoo, Black Jacobin, Black-throated Mango, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Green-backed Becard (also at a nest) and a pair of duetting Black-capped Donacobius – a tour highlight. A roadside stop yielded a flock Guira Cuckoos, White-faced Whistling-Duck, a Rufescent Tiger-Heron and countless Common Moorhens. Another unnamed reserve (even smaller than the other two) was our ticket for great views of White-winged Cotinga, Moustached Wren, Red-necked Tanager (a bird that settled down on a nest right overhead) and Flavescent Warbler.
On a couple of leisurely afternoons and one morning outing, time on our hotel grounds was well spent. Several fruiting Cupania americana (also known as Wild Ackee in Jamaica and Candlewood elsewhere) attracted several species, providing great views of Variegated Flycatcher among others, while an unidentified flowering tree by our rooms was a great hummer attractant. Here we saw at least six species, including Sombre and Ruby-topaz Hummingbirds. A couple of walks behind the hotel finally resulted in our only Seven-colored Tanagers of the tour, along with Tawny Piculet, Orange-headed Tanager, Little Woodpecker, Rufous-fronted Thornbird, many Planalto Tyrannulets, White-backed Fire-eye, Pectoral Sparrow and a patience-testing Black-cheeked Gnateater that eventually gave us excellent views. Below the hotel we heard an Ash-throated Crake while watching Limpkin, White-headed Marsh-Tyrant and an impressive kettle of Black Vultures.
Suddenly we found ourselves in the caatinga of Pernambuco, and in the late afternoon near Arcoverde we saw our first Picui Ground-Doves, White-throated Seedeaters and Red-cowled Cardinals and stumbled into our only Grassland Sparrow, Least Nighthawk and a very surprising cluster of Spotted Nothuras (which called and perked up in response to iPod to confirm the ID, and it was a lifer for everyone present). We enriched this list at the stunningly beautiful Catimbau National Park with an early morning stop, where we heard Little Nightjar, followed by Lesser Wagtail-Tyrant, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Stripe-breasted Starthroat, Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant and Gray-eyed Greenlet. A short hike down the Cánion Trail resulted in several more good sightings including Crane Hawk, Silvery-cheeked Antshrike (a very cooperative bird), Barred Antshrike (several busy with a territorial dispute at the exact same spot as the previous species, but unresponsive to recordings), Mouse-colored Tyrannulet, Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant and a female Ultramarine Grosbeak. A long drive finished the rest of the day, but not without some good finds including the enigmatic Red-shouldered Spinetail at a random roadside stop, Cactus Parakeet, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Spot-backed Puffbird (bravely perched on a power line by the highway) and our first of many Pileated Finches.
Once at Arajara Park only 20 minutes from our hotel on our first morning at Crato, the tension built. We nervously and quickly got over the excitement of seeing Planalto Hermit, Black-capped Antwren and Euler’s Flycatcher so well when suddenly there he was, the Araripe Manakin. He was everything everyone had hoped for, truly a stunning bird. Not long after we had our fill, we found a second, then perhaps even a third male, eventually seeing two or three females and/or immature males as well. It was a very pleasant place to bird, lush-green from the endemic tree ferns (samambaia-açu) and inhabited by Tawny Piculet, Black-tailed Flycatcher, Golden-crowned Warbler and a small flock of Common Waxbills (introduced yet still adorable). So pleasant, in fact, that even after we had seen another male Araripe Manakin elsewhere, we returned for an afternoon to enjoy even better views of this most amazing of birds.
Elsewhere at the Chapada do Araripe the birding was quite productive. At our hotel, we saw Sick’s Swift, Fork-tailed Palm-Swift (everywhere in town too) and a Tropical Screech-Owl, while just up the road we saw a Rufous Nightjar and had a most amazing experience with a Common Potoo, which we watched sing in the spotlight at close range while a second bird came in and hovered over it. We accessed the top of the mesa in three places, seeing White-naped Jay at one and Creamy-bellied Thrush at another in the taller forest. But our full morning in the shorter habitat was our most productive, culminating in fantastic views of a Great Xenops right after we saw an Ochre-cheeked Spinetail and a wonderful Crested Becard. Along the way we tried our hardest see a White-browed Antpitta, in the process getting very close to a Small-billed Tinamou and seeing neither, but having a close encounter with giant terrestrial termites was worth the bushwhack. We finally had good views of Long-billed Wren here, added Fuscous Flycatcher, Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin, Planalto Slaty-Antshrike, Caatinga Antwren and Ash-throated Casiornis, had close views of a stunning male Ultramarine Grosbeak, glimpsed an Aplomado Falcon in flight and almost had a complete view of Rufous-breasted Leaftosser.
A long drive north through the state of Ceará was made interesting by stopping at roadside ponds, where we padded the list with many widespread birds including Brazilian Teal, Snail Kite, Savanna Hawk, Harris’s Hawk, Pied Lapwing, Collared Plover and White-winged Swallow. Some landbirds new for the trip included Plain-breasted Ground-Dove, Scaled Dove, Campo Flicker, Chestnut-capped Blackbird and Caatinga Cacholote (or Chicken Cacciatore if you can’t remember that one). But the day’s highlight was visiting Sinaldo’s ranch, where we braved dangerously hot temperatures in the exposed tropical sun for amazing views of Pygmy Nightjars, including one doing a broken-wing display after we unintentionally flushed it off an egg.
At our new digs in the Serra de Baturité, we finally awoke to a pleasant temperature (the first time under 70°F on the tour) and even some moisture falling from the sky. This did nothing to dampen our spirits as we walked the main road and tallied three more hummers: Rufous-breasted Hermit, Fork-tailed Woodnymph and Versicolored Emerald; enjoyed great views of three of the area’s prime targets: Gould’s Toucanet, Ochraceous Piculet and Buff-breasted Tody-Tyrant; and proceeded to add one new species after another, some memorable for their beauty, some for offering unusually good views and some just not seen all that often: Green-barred Woodpecker, Gray-headed Spinetail, Slender-footed Tyrannulet, White-throated Spadebill and Sooty Grassquit. We only heard the Blond-crested Woodpecker but saw Rufous-breasted Leaftosser well (though in dwindling daylight). Right by our rooms we could enjoy Wing-banded Hornero, Masked Water-Tyrant and amazing views of Red-necked Tanager (good enough to earn it second-favorite of the tour), while we had to make for a foot trail to see Lesser Woodcreeper, Variable Antshrike and Plain Antvireo. We had the luck to run into two ornithologists Ciro and Weber (Sinaldo’s nephew) from Fortaleza and another from Argentina, which was of great help to see Gray-breasted Parakeet and Planalto Woodcreeper as well as Band-tailed Manakin in the hand. While at this private forest reserve and shade-coffee plantation we also moved Yellow-chevroned Parakeet and Sooty-fronted Spinetail to the “seen” list and finally saw Pale-legged Hornero. Our last new species came on the morning before our long journeys home: the local subspecies of Rufous Gnateater, a gorgeous Troupial and Rufous-sided Crake (almost seen).
Rich Hoyer