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An Ochre-breasted Pipit, one of a variety of grassland species we observed on our extension to Canastra and the Rio Sao Francisco. Photo by guide Marcelo Padua.

With well over 1800 species of birds Brazil has many remarkable places to go birding, but Canastra National Park certainly occupies a high position in the rank of birding destinations within the country. Its diversity of habitats such as the grasslands of the upper reaches of the mountain range with breathtaking vistas holds an enormous diversity of endemic plants, many of which were in bloom during our visit.

These in turn support a wide variety of highly specialized birds such as the wonderful Cock-tailed Tyrants that fly around like tiny helicopters patrolling the fields, or the tiny Sharp-tailed Tyrants that cling to long shoots from the Arrow Grass that dominates the landscape.

Small streams with crystal clear waters support a denser vegetation where Brasilia Tapaculos and Helmeted Manakins find shelter, and as these streams join forces they gradually give body to the Sao Francisco river, which leaps from the mountain in an amazing waterfall where thousands of Great-dusky and White-collared swifts nest and seek shelter every day.

Down below, the Sao Francisco finds a much more lush forest that harbors a great variety of Atlantic Forest endemics such as the colorful Gilt-edged Tanager and the minute Pin-tailed Manakin. These clean and undisturbed waters near the headwaters of the Sao Francisco are one of the last remaining strongholds of the world’s rarest merganser, the Brazilian Merganser, a bird which once occupied many streams of Brazil and Argentina.

Due to its incredible sensitivity to changes in its habitat, however, this species has disappeared from most of its range and is now confined to small areas where the water is pure and clear. These birds have large territories and occupy large stretches of the river, driving away others of their species and thus keeping their numbers quite low. This makes the effort of finding them quite difficult, as we need to be able to search long stretches of water in hope of locating the birds.

Our efforts paid off handsomely after much work as we found a pair of birds resting on a rock in the river, and we watched as they walked into the water and drifted away with the current of the Sao Francisco.

The search for these rare birds was thrilling and the privilege of seeing them inspiring. We hope these birds will continue to breed, and that the few places still suitable for their existence will remain protected, allowing us to see them again for many years to come.

Thank you for joining me on this wonderful adventure.

--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

Totals for the tour: 155 bird taxa and 4 mammal taxa