Sharpbill is one of the world’s odd cotingas. Photo: David Fisher
Home to almost a fifth of the world’s birds (over 1,600 species), of which more than 175 species are endemic, Brazil offers one of the most varied avifaunas of any country on earth. New species are being described each year, and as more birders and ornithologists explore this bird-rich country, species previously thought extinct are being rediscovered.
This tour offers superb birding experiences in the Atlantic rainforest, one of the most threatened habitats in South America with only five percent of the original forest remaining. Our time will be spent enjoying the immeasurable array of birdlife while searching for some of the more threatened and endemic species. In Serra dos Orgãos and Itatiaia National Parks and remnant forest areas outside the parks we’ll find a vast diversity of bird families including hummingbirds, cotingas, woodpeckers, woodcreepers, antbirds, tapaculos and tanagers. Different habitat zones from coastal cocoa plantations with remnant forest to subtropical and montane forest will provide new bird species daily as well as frequent encounters with some of the more common species, thus allowing ample opportunity to become well acquainted with the area’s splendid avifauna.
As a first or repeat birding experience in Brazil, this tour, with its diversity and its emphasis on endemics and threatened species, holds a special attraction for birders interested in the Neotropics.
This tour can be taken in conjunction with our tour Brazil: The Pantanal and Mato Grosso Rainforest.
Day 1: The trip begins this morning at 9:00 a.m. in Rio de Janeiro. Following flight arrivals, we’ll drive northeast to Teresópolis where we’ll be based for two nights in a hotel close to Serra dos Orgãos National Park. With more endemics than any other reserve in Brazil, Serra dos Orgãos will soon make us forget our jetlag as we immerse ourselves in its birdlife. We’ll spend the afternoon birding the lower stretches, where our first Brazilian endemics await us — Pallid Spinetail, White-collared Foliage-Gleaner and Star-throated Antwren are all possibilities. Kaleidoscopic tanager flocks and insectivorous furnariids creeping along branches and foraging in dead leaf clusters will have us examining every call and leaf movement for new species. Night in Teresópolis.
Day 2: After an early breakfast, we’ll drive northeast of Teresópolis to a remnant area of dry forest that continues to support a good selection of birds including the Three-toed Jacamar. While our focus will be on locating this endangered species, the day will be spent acquainting ourselves with birds of southeastern Brazil including a mixture of tanagers, flycatchers, furnariids and woodpeckers. Night in Teresópolis.
Day 3: Carrying packed lunches, we’ll spend the morning and early afternoon walking through different altitudinal zones on a trail in Serra dos Orgãos. We’ll listen for the distinctive call of Hooded Berryeater, a striking endemic cotinga, and look for flocks moving through the dense bamboo, watching especially for Tufted Antshrike, Ferruginous and Ochre-rumped Antbirds, Black-billed Scythebill and White-browed Warbler. Trailside streams and small waterfalls may yield Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper. In the afternoon we’ll drive to Itatiaia National Park, where we’ll spend four nights in a comfortable hotel whose grounds are filled with birds. Night in Itatiaia National Park.
Days 4-6: Located only 125 miles from Rio, Itatiaia is Brazil’s oldest national park, and its habitats run the gamut from Atlantic rainforest to the treeless summit of Agulhas Negras, the second-highest mountain wholly within Brazil. Our days will be spent birding the entrance road and an excellent trail system that winds through elevations ranging from 2,700 and 5,200 feet. From the cacophony of parrots screeching overhead at dawn to the musical song of Slaty Bristlefront, the forest birds will hold our interest throughout our stay. Our efforts should be rewarded with sightings of birds large and small, from Dusky-legged Guans to numerous hummingbirds including Frilled Coquette, Violet-capped Woodnymph, the striking Brazilian Ruby and Swallow-tailed Hummingbird. White-throated and Planato Woodcreepers, Giant Antshrike, Spot-breasted Antvireo and a variety of trogons and toucans including Saffron and Spot-billed Toucanets will vie for our attention in the forest while the hotel garden, with its feeders and fruiting trees, will fill any free moments. On one day we’ll drive above treeline along the Agulhas Negras road. In these higher altitudes of the park, we’ll concentrate on finding Itatiaia Spinetail, Araucaria Tit-Spinetail, Black-breasted Plovercrest, Black-and-gold Cotinga, Mouse-colored Tapaculo, Gray-capped Tyrannulet, Blackish Rail and other species that are not normally found within the lower or mid-altitudinal zones of the park. Nights in Itatiaia National Park.
Day 7: After a final morning in Itatiaia National Park we’ll spend the afternoon driving to Perequê on the coast, stopping to bird en route. Night in Perequê.
Day 8: Our focus this morning will be on locating the recently rediscovered Black-hooded Antwren. While visiting sites where this attractive endemic has been found we’ll have opportunities to see other species including White-shouldered Fire-eye, Gray-hooded Attila, Brazilian and Red-necked Tanagers. Following a picnic lunch we’ll drive along the coast to Ubatuba, where we’ll be based for two nights. Night in Ubatuba.
Day 9: During our time in the Ubatuba area we’ll visit one or two local fazendas (ranches) where patches of forest have been left among the cocoa plants. These forest patches provide sufficient habitat for some of the southeast Brazilian endemics we’ll seek such as Saw-billed Hermit and Buff-throated Purpletuft as well Festive Coquette, Sharpbill, Blond-crested Woodpecker, Scaled Antbird and Spotted Bamboowren, among many others. In clearings in the fazendas we’ll scan the sky mid-morning for raptors, perhaps including Bicolored or a rare Mantled Hawk. Night in Ubatuba.
Day 10: On our final morning in Ubatuba we’ll search for any species we may not have seen during our time on the coast. Following lunch in Ubatuba, we’ll drive to São Paulo where the tour concludes.
Updated: 02 October 2007
Prices
- 2008 price about $3,790
- Single Occupancy Supplement $420
Notes
This tour is limited to eight participants with one leader; 14 with two leaders. If a second leader is required, it will be David Fisher.
We would, of course, be pleased to help with overnight accommodation for anyone arriving in Rio de Janeiro on July 24.