September 22-October 7, 2024 with Marcelo Padua & Micah Riegner
This tour highlights the many spectacular and increasingly threatened habitats in south-central Brazil, starting in the Pantanal, then working east through the Cerrado and ending at Caraça where the first birds of the Atlantic Forest begin to show up. Despite record drought and fires this year across South America, we pulled off a great tour seeing close to 400 species of birds and numerous charismatic mammals including Jaguar, Ocelot, multiple Maned Wolves and Tapir.
We convened in Campo Grande, our launching point for the Southern Pantanal. From there, we drove west to Pousada Aguape, where we saw copious numbers of Hyacinth Macaws, Nanday Parakeets and Toco Toucans so close we could almost pet them! These, along with Giant Anteater and Six-banded Armadillos, were the welcome committee when we arrived. We spent a couple days exploring the property from the comfort of a safari truck finding Spot-backed (Chaco) Puffbirds, Long-tailed Ground-Doves, Chotoy Spinetails, Campo Flickers, Red-legged Seriemas, Pale-crested Woodpeckers, Great Rufous Woodcreepers, the localized Blaze-winged Parakeets and Yellow-collared Macaws. One afternoon we took a relaxing boat ride on the Rio Aquidauana and saw Mato Grosso Antbird, Red-billed Scythebill, White-throated Piping-Guans and Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner, a scarce Pantanal specialty. It took a bit of patience, but eventually it showed well. During a night drive we saw Black-banded Owl, a common Potoo on a fencepost and a super relaxed Ocelot sitting right in front of the safari truck. Nossa!
From Agaupe, we drove to Fazenda San Francisco, another property teaming with life. Each day we went out on the safari truck we saw well over 100 species of birds, from Jabirus, Maguari Storks and Bare-faced Ibises in the rice fields to mixed passerine flocks with Rusty-collared, White-bellied, Double-collared and Tawny-bellied-Seedeaters. We also saw a couple Mississippi Kites that had recently arrived from their long transcontinental migration. One afternoon, we went out on a catamaran at Corixo Santo Domingo and saw a super-close Sungrebe, a group of Black-capped Donacobius, and a Cream-colored Woodpecker. Along the night drives at San Francisco, Eliani the local guide put us on Jaguar, more close Ocelots, Marsh Deer, Brazilian Rabbits, lots of Crab-eating Foxes, Nine-banded Armadillo, and both Striped and Barn Owls.
Continuing east we reached Emas National Park, one of the last parcels of protected grasslands in southern Brazil surrounded by a sea of soybean fields. Here, we spent two full days on a safari truck traversing many miles of dirt roads through cerrado woodland and open campos dotted with towering termite mounds. Along these drives we had our first encounters with Curl-crested Jays, White-rumped and White-banded Tanagers, Wedge-tailed and Lesser Grass-Finches, White-eared Puffbirds, Yellow-faced Parrots, Sharp-tailed Tyrants, and the nomadic Coal-crested Finch. But best of all were the Cock-tailed Tyrants displaying in the capim fleixa grass. Watching the males flutter like giant insects over the tall grass was unreal! During our walk into the riparian woodland along the Rio Formoso, we stirred up a White-striped Warbler, Helmeted Manakins and Large-billed Antwrens while Sick’s Swifts zipped about overhead.
That evening, right at sundown we pulled up to the park headquarters to watch a Maned Wolf peruse the area and after dark a Tapir showed up, too. We drove out into the park on the safari truck and Marcelo picked up the eyeshine of a White-winged Nightjar so we jumped out and walked right up to it. Have a look at a range map of that bird and you’ll see why we were so excited to see it!
From Emas we had a full travel day to reach Serra do Cipo, a beautiful mountain range in the State of Mina Gerais. Here, we explored a rocky habitat known as campo rupestre, dotted with Vellozias, fire-adapted plants endemic to Brazil. Hyacinth Visorbearers, Gray-backed Tachuris and Cinnamon Tanagers call this place home and we saw a few of each. We tried hard to see Cipo Canastero but unfortunately had no such luck. Additional highlights from Cipo were the Firewood Gatherers we saw in an open field, the vibrant Blue Finch that Marcelo called into view, the Least Nighthawks in front of a fiery sunset, and the Crested Black-Tyrants, Checkered Woodpecker, Campo Troupial, Silvery-cheeked Antshrike and Horned Sungem we saw our final morning there.
From Cipo we cruised through Belo Horizonte to reach the historic mining town of Ouro Preto in time for lunch. During its heyday in the 1800s it was the most populated city in the Americas but, once the gold was exhausted, many people left for other parts of Brazil. Din, our local tour guide, showed us around the many elaborate churches and backroads before we had to leave for Caraça where we would spend the final days of the tour.
Caraça is world famous for its Maned Wolves that come out to feed in front of the church, and our arrival at dusk coincided perfectly with one such event. The days that followed we birded the various trails that wind through the woods, finding Atlantic Forest gems like Ochre-rumped and White-bibbed Antbirds, Pale-throated Pampa-Finch, Rufous Gnateater, White-breasted Tapaculo, Large-tailed Antshrike, Swallow-tailed Cotinga and Crescent-chested Puffbird. Interestingly, the puffbird was getting mobbed by a bunch of other birds that thought it was a Pygmy-Owl. Among them were Black-capped Antwren, Rufous-headed Tanager, and Frilled Coquette. I’ve never seen anything like it before. The night birding at Caraça was also superb. One night Marcelo called in a Rusty Barred Owl and the next night we saw Ocellated Poorwill, Long-trained Nightjar and a pair of Tawny-browed Owls.
From Caraça we returned to Belo Horizonte for one final Brazilian Churrascaria lunch before we dispersed in the airport, another great run of Safari Brazil in the bag. This tour would not have been possible without Ruth and Ricardo in our office lining up all the reservations and the many drivers, and local guides we had throughout the tour. Marcelo and I would also like to thank you all for joining us in Brazil and we look forward to more birding adventures together!
Mammals
Common Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) A small troop of these crossed the field at Caraça.
Masked Titi (Callicebus personatus) Heard at Caraça.
Black-and-gold Howler (Alouatta caraya) Seen along our boat excursion
Brown Capuchin (Sapajus apella) We had nice looks at some right at dusk at Caraça.
Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) One of the first big mammals we saw as we approached Aguape.
Six-banded Armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus) These cool armadillos are easy to see at Aguape. They run about all over the lodge.
Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) We saw one on a night drive at Fazenda San Francisco.
White-eared Opossum (Didelphis albiventris) We saw one walking on the road near Chapadao do Ceu.
Guianan Squirrel (Sciurus aestuans) Seen in the courtyard at Caraça.
Greater Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). Abundant throughout the Pantanal. We saw some making more capybaras at Fazenda San Francisco.
Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous) Seen regularly along the night drives at the Pantanal and at Emas NP.
Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) Certainly a trip highlight! We saw these foxes on stilts at Emas National Park and at Caraça.
Tayra (Eira barbara) We saw one sprint across the road at Fazenda San Francisco.
Striped Hog-nosed Skunk (Conepatus semistriatus) Seen in a sugar cane field near Emas National Park.
Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) This tour we had above average luck with Ocelot. We saw one at Aguape, and two at San Francisco, all of which were excellent views.
Jaguar (Panthera onca) We saw one on our first night drive at Fazenda San Francisco.
Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) We had awesome looks at the tapir coming to the Emas NP headquarters. Also seen out in the fields near Emas.
Marsh Deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) Though abundant at Fazenda San Francisco, this species is threatened throughout its range due to habitat loss.
Pampas Deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) Common around Aguape and also at Emas NP. We saw a mother feeding a young fawn right in the open.
Common Red Brocket Deer (Mazama americana) Seen at Caraça.
Reptiles
Giant Ameiva (Ameiva ameiva)
Golden Tegu (Tupinambis teguixin) These large monitor-like lizards were seen throughout the Pantanal.
Paraguayan Caiman (Caiman yacare) The few dwindling water holes we saw at Aguape were surrounded by these caiman.
False Water Cobra (Hydrodynastes gigas) One of these giant snakes crossed the road in front of us at Fazenda San Francisco.
Lava Lizard (Tropidurus montanus) These were the lizards we saw on the rocks at Serra do Cipo.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/281487
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/cbr24TRIPLIST.pdf
Micah Riegner