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It's hard to beat Hyacinth Macaws as an opening photo! (Image by guide Marcelo Padua)

One of the most fascinating aspects of leading the same tour year after year is seeing how different things can be from one tour to the next. This year things were particularly interesting in the Pantanal, where the past rainy season had ended late and the rains had started earlier than typical, so there was a lot more water around than we usually see at this time of year. As a result the birds were more scattered than they normally are, yet some species that are normally not very responsive at this time of year were incredibly cooperative. Such was the case with the Pheasant Cuckoo that sat in the spotlight and sang just a few feet away from our group, as well as the Gray-breasted Crake that paraded in the open for us several times. But these were not the only birds that made our visit so rewarding. The usual highlights were all present, with Hyacinth Macaws flying around our lodge every day, Jabirus at every pond, Blaze-winged Parakeets performing above our expectations, and a collection of passerines that are almost exclusive to the pantanal, such as Mato Grosso Antbird, White-lored Spinetail, Fawn-breasted Wren, and Plain Tyrannulet, among others.

The birding was truly amazing, but the Pantanal would not be nearly as famous as it is without the mammals, and they did not disappoint either. Upon arriving at our lodge we were met by a Giant Anteater calmly foraging nearby; this would be the first of several we saw on the tour, including two females with babies on their backs. We saw Brazilian Tapir twice and also watched Ocelot, a mammal I had not seen myself for quite some time. White-lipped Peccaries were abundant, but the Collared were also seen well, along with four species of deer seen by the entire group, while Tom had a personal encounter with a Tayra that caught both him and the animal totally off guard.

The Pantanal is a magical place indeed and one that deserves its reputation as one of the best birding areas in the world, but Brazil has many other hidden gems and Emas National Park is certainly one of them. Emas is far from every airport and major city, and getting to it requires quite a bit of driving, but for those who take the trip the rewards are incredible as this is one of the last large tracts of the native grasslands that once covered much of Central Brazil, a habitat easily converted to cattle ranching or agriculture and so hard to recover once altered. It was here that we found a number of grassland dwellers such as White-winged Nightjar, Black-masked Finch, Small-billed and Red-winged tinamous, Cock-tailed and Sharp-tailed tyrants, Campo Miners, Coal-crested Finch, and a huge flock of migrant seedeaters that included Marsh, Pearly-bellied, Chestnut, and Rufous-rumped. And, although the open fields had no shortage of birds, we took shelter in the heat of the day in the gallery forests at Emas while enjoying good looks at Helmeted Manakin, White-striped Warblers, Southern Antpipit, and the ultra-rare Cone-billed Tanager.

Our next stop was Cipo National Park, situated in the Espinhaco mountain range in east-central Brazil, which shelters some very interesting Brazilian endemics, such the colorful Hyacinth Visorbearer and the Cipo Canastero, the only canastero around for thousands of miles. The habitat is also excellent for other cerrado specialties such as Blue Finch, Cinnamon Tanager, Horned Sungem, Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch, and Crested Black-Tyrant, all of which we saw remarkably well in the single day we dedicated to birding in this habitat.

Our last stop had one great challenge, ending this fabulous tour on a high note -- and that was exactly what we did! Caraca is a sanctuary, an old school/monastery that sits in the middle of a private reserve protecting more than 25,000 acres of native habitat, and a historical site that was an important stop for the travelers from interior Brazil to the coast during the colonial times. It's a mosaic of Atlantic rainforest and Cerrado habitat that features excellent birding right from the doorstep. It was here that we spent the last three nights of the tour enjoying great views of White-breasted and Rock tapaculos, Serra Antwren, Ultramarine Grosbeak, Gilt-edged and Brassy-breasted tanagers, Velvety Black-Tyrant, and the Incredible Maned Wolves that visit the doorsteps of the old church every night to take advantage of some food left for them.

After all the great places we visited on this tour only one question remains for those who were there: Where in Brazil will you bird next?

I don't know the answer -- you'll have to choose. But I hope to be with you to show off a little more of this great country!

Until then, good birding...

--Marcelo

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Other interesting records included:

Yellow-footed Tortoise, Geochelone denticulata.

Tegu Lizzard, Tupinambus tegu.

Paraguaian Caiman, Caiman yacare.

Totals for the tour: 386 bird taxa and 22 mammal taxa