Ricardo Barbosa da Silva has been accompanying Field Guides birding groups in Brazil as an official, in-country tourism guide since 1998. Originally Ricardo handled mostly logistics and transportation, but as the years went by he became increasingly absorbed in the birding and, on a blustery day in 2007, high on the slopes of Pico de Caledonia in Rio de Janeiro, Bret Whitney and Marcelo Padua, with their Southeast Brazil tour group as witnesses, formally brought Ricardo into the Field Guides family, bestowing on him the name Yellow-fronted Woodpecker, or just Woodpecker, Pica-pau, for short.
Today he provides critical logistical and reservations support for most of our Brazil tours, but what Pica-pau loves doing most is birding and showing visiting birders the beautiful forests and birds of Rio de Janeiro. Don’t hesitate to contact Pica-pau for a city tour, some birding in Tijuca National Park, or even some beach tennis on Copacabana Beach!