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We had five days to enjoy this remarkable part of Bolivia, and we found some great birds! Photo by guide Dan Lane.

It’s been two years since I last led a tour to the Beni, but it felt great to be back! This region, the lesser-known sibling of the Pantanal, is no less incredible in its birdlife, its awe-inspiring numbers of large waders, its herds of capybaras, its value as a stopover site for migrant shorebirds, swallows, and others, and its “wow” factor of surprising one with yet another aspect of its natural wealth. It was once an inland sea, and still effectively becomes one for several months out of the year (not while we’re there, mind you)… and it is also home to some curious endemism. All around, it’s a pretty fascinating place, and I really love birding here!

The Beni is large expanses of open, seasonally flooding grassland, higher hummocks of semi-deciduous woodland, semi-open palm stands, and gallery forest along the more permanent waterways. It has little in the way of real relief (at least that is perceptible in the dry season), but this mixture of habitats results in a surprisingly high diversity of birds. And that’s what brought us here! The crown jewel, as far as birders are concerned, is the highly endangered and range-restricted Blue-throated Macaw, which is only found in palm “islands” scattered about the center of the Beni. This macaw was only “rediscovered” in the 1990s, when conservationists went undercover to follow the chain of the illegal pet trade to find the source of birds appearing on the black market. That led to these lonely palm islands in the Beni, and shortly thereafter, conservation groups such as ARMONIA began a campaign to preserve this species, which is down to approximately 300 individuals in the wild. We wish them well!

Meanwhile, the Beni is also home to several other endemic forms, some presently considered species, and others that likely will be once they are sufficiently studied. These include the difficult Unicolored Thrush (which we failed to encounter), the nominate form of Plain Softtail, the resident form of Velvet-fronted Grackle, and, it seems, a population of greenlet that has largely remained under the radar. Add to this the afore-mentioned concentrations of large waders, the flocks of seedeaters, and the wide assortment of curious finch-tanagers, tyrants, furnariids, raptors, and others, and you will have an appreciation for why the Beni should be a destination for any world birders. I hope you, having now been, will agree with that assessment! I certainly enjoyed sharing those few days with you exploring this amazing place, and hope we will have another opportunity to meet up and bird again in the near future!

Until then, live easy and bird hard!

Dan

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

These Blue-throated Macaws at la Esperancita were very calm compared to their neighbors, the Blue-and-yellow Macaws, but that allowed us to get a really good look at these highly endangered parrots. Photo by guide Micah Riegner.

White-naped Xenopsaris was unexpected, but a welcome addition to our list. Photo by participant Jose Padilla-Lopez.

Participant Becky Hansen got this wonderful flight shot of two Toco Toucans.

This Blue-throated Piping Guan was quite cooperative! Photo by guide Micah Riegner.

The Gray-eyed Greenlets in the Beni region may be a distinct species. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Many of us wanted to find the unusual Southern Screamer, and we certainly did! Participant Becky Hansen got this great shot.

Brown-crested Flycatcher was a common sight on the extension. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Colorful Plush-crested Jays put on a nice show for us. Photo by participant Jose Padilla-Lopez.

We had a good view of this Brown Capuchin, one of five primate species that we saw on the tour. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Here is one of the pair of Great Rufous Woodcreepers we saw at Esperancita. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

We saw a lot of Jabirus, including this one that was trying to swallow a large piece of catfish. Don't know what it was thinking, as it looks pretty full already! Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Wattled Jacanas were also in good supply, and we saw them wherever there was water. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Argentine Black-and-white Tegu (Salvator merianae): that huge lizard we saw along the tributaries of the Mamore.

Giant Ameiva (Ameiva ameiva): the green-backed lizard at the park before we went to the airport.

Neotropical Rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus): The dead rattlesnake on the road.

Boa constrictor: Wow, was that a lovely animal!

Poison dart frogs (Ameerega sp.): What a weird place to find a whole cluster of those frogs! I'd never have guessed they'd be away from closed-canopy evergreen forest!

Amazon River Turtle (Podocnemis sp.)

Yacare Caiman (Caiman yacare): I'm surprised to learn that caiman in Bolivia are not Spectacled, but rather another species! Spectacled are in northern and western South America, Yacare is in more open country south of the Amazon east to the Atlantic coast of South America.

Little Nightjar (Setopagis parvula): we found one freshly dead on the dirt road that led to the Blue-throated Macaws... how'd it die? Too bad we couldn't count it.

Totals for the tour: 236 bird taxa and 11 mammal taxa