September 20-October 5, 2025 with Marcelo Padua & Sam Wilson
Brazil is rightfully known for its striking diversity and beauty and there truly is no better place in South America then the Pantanal for a first stop introduction to many of the jewels of the continent. Though we did a number of walks in the mountain serras and Atlantic Forest, much of the tour is on open grassland safaris. We saw almost 400 species of birds on this diverse tour and quite a few special mammals and reptiles as well. Though we didn’t experience much in the way of consistent rainfall, the birds were still quite active and we managed to see a number of rare and range-restricted species.
We started the trip heading out of city of Campo Grande west towards Aquiduana. As soon as we hit the rural dirt roads onto the edge of the Pantanal we stopped for some of the classic and spectacular birds of the region, including the leggy and vocal Red-legged Seriema, Huge Hyacinth Macaws, and social Guira Cuckoo’s. It was hard not to be impressed by the immediate evidence of such abundant avian life on the drive in. After arriving at the ranchland of Pousada Aguapé we tracked down some excellent regional specialties via safari truck including White-fronted Woodpecker, Blaze-winged Parakeet, and Great Rufous Woodcreeper. A Little Nightjar spotlighted in a field capped off the evening.
A Giant Anteater was a thrill to start off the morning and we enjoy a pair of displaying Rusty-backed Antwrens, the incredible Red-billed Scythebill, Jabiru, Spot-backed Puffbird, and the extremely range-restricted Chetnut-capped Foliage-Gleaner from river boat. A black-banded Owl was an exciting highlight in a woodlot one evening. We had nearly given up and just as we started up the safari truck to leave, we spotted our owl at close range on an overhanging branch! Our meals were often punctuated with visits from other fauna like a friendly armadillo named Chico, Capybaras, screeching parakeets and macaws, and even visits to the feeders from seriemas.
Our next stop was Fazenda San Francisco, a massive ranch of productive land and diked wetlands that added some extra waterbird flavor to the next few days. Particularly exciting about our excursions around the ranch were a number of nocturnal creatures including Ocelots, a rare (for the area) Mountain Lion and stunning encounter with a Maned Wolf, the leggiest canid of all! We also saw Barn Owl, Tropical Screech-Owl, and Striped Owl and a mix of deer.
Though we missed a Jaguar on the night drive, we were thrilled on our final afternoon at San Francisco to spot one fairly close with an eye on Capybara near the Safari truck. She eventually slunk off into the forest in the mid-afternoon heat, but an exciting encounter none-the-less. We saw well over 100 species each day amongst the wetlands, tracts of forest, and grasslands including a slew of specialty birds. The large and chunky Southern Screamers were a hit along with Maguari Storks, Pale-crested Woodpecker, Yellow-collared Macaws, Mato Grosso Antbird, Cinerous-breast Spinetail.
Moving on to the grasslands and scrublands (cerrado) of Southeast Brazil, it is notable that they have been mostly converted to agricultural lands, though these farmlands do provide some habitat for birds. Unfortunately, the vast plains full of Tapir, Maned Wolf, and an array of open country birds has been reduced to a few postage stamp sized reserves, little visited and appreciated for what was lost. We visited Emas National Park, a premier reserve on the just over the state line from Mato Grosso do Sul to Goiás state that still maintains 500 square miles of cerrado savannah.
Specialty birds are in abundance here and before heading to the savannah, we checked out a local woodlot for Pale-bellied Tyrant Manakin, Helmeted Manakin, and Southern Antpipit. Emas NP(Portuguese for Rhea) was good to us with a number of uncommon birds. Bearded Tachuri was our only miss, mostly attributed to high afternoon winds that made it difficult for birds to perch up. Some fantastic cerrado birds included Sharp-tailed Tyrant, Collared Crescentchest, White-rumped Tanager, Coal-crested Finch, and crowd favorite Cock-tailed Tyrant with their uniquely entertaining flight displays. Streamer-tailed Tyrants, Lesser Grass-finch, Yellow-rumped Marshbird and even a look at Spotted Nothuras were exciting to see on a beautiful evening at the marsh. We took one evening to head back to Emas to look for the extremely rare White-winged Nightjar, now confined to just a few small reserves scattered around the region. We were fortunate to spotlight two, including a cooperative individual quite close on the ground. Another big highlight was Russet-mantled Foliage-gleaner, an infrequently seen and rare bird of forest patches adjacent to protected cerrado.
Part II of the trip had us flying from the Southeast north of Rio and São Paulo to Belo Hoizonte, our launch point for the stony serra outcrops and the unique avifauna of Brazil’s Atlantic Forests. On the Lapinha da Serra we picked out our first Gray-backed Tachuri, as well as a couple of rare and highlight hummingbirds like the recently split Diamantina Sabrewing, White-vented Violetear, and Hyacinth Visorbearer. Firewood-gatherer was a fun pickup, not only for its cool name, but also the interesting behavior of interacting with nearby birds and gathering sticks for their impressive nests. Campo Troupial, Cinnamon Tanager, and especially Cinereous Warbling Finches really set the standard for the day. The morning we left the serra we first picked up Checkered Woodpecker and finally some fantastic views of the striking and now threatened Blue Finch. An impossible bird to ignore!
One of the most interesting locations of the trip was a 3 night stay at Santuário do Caraça, a unique cultural and religious institution that maintains a beautiful 27,000 acre sanctuary with accessible walking trails, and access to some of the best Atlantic forest birding in the region. For many, the birding highlights were accompanied by sunrise over the mountains and staying on the beautiful monastery grounds. There were too many highlights to name over the next three days of birding but certainly Frilled Coquette, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Gilt-edged Tanager, White-shouldered Fire-eye, Greenish Schiffornis, and Rock Tapaculo were in the mix. Pin-tailed Manakin, Shear-tailed Gray Tyrant, and finally a capper Large-tailed Antshrike put up us over the top.
We spent a final day touring the historic and colonial city of Ouro Preto and enjoying more fantastic Brazilian cuisine before heading back to Belo Horizonte for our flights home. Thanks in particular to my coguide Marcelo Padua for enduring some challenges on this tour including crutching his way around Santuário do Caraça while managing to still get the group on some great birds! Expert drivers, hospitality staff, and the friendly people of Brazil really made this tour all the more enjoyable. Of course a big thanks to our fantastic Field Guides group for big smiles, an appreciation for Brazilian food and culture, and the rare and unique birds and wildlife we experienced on this incredibly diverse tour.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/416311
Sam