September 13-28, 2025 with Marcelo Barreiros & Bret Whitney
After a couple of particularly hard years of widespread drought across much of central Amazonia, the early dry season of 2025 proved to be quite a relief. River levels were actually a bit higher than average, which made access to river islands in both the “whitewater” Solimões and “blackwater” Negro downright easy. And some good rain over the few days ahead of the tour, and on a couple of afternoons and evenings later, served to freshen up the forest.
Our opening day took us to the Adolpho Ducke Reserve at the northeastern edge of Manaus. The first birds to vocalize as we got out of our van were two big, rather rare woodcreepers: Red-billed and Black-banded, both of which came right in for fine views, followed immediately by the appearance of a troop of Pied (Brazilian) Bare-face Tamarins, one of the rarest primates in South America – we were off to a fantastic start! That beautiful morning of birding along a wide, paved road through tall rainforest also featured great views of Yellow-billed and Paradise jacamars, Green and Black-necked aracaris, Whistling Woodcreeper (a recent split from widespread Long-tailed Woodcreeper), Golden-collared and Yellow-throated woodpeckers, perched Red-fan Parrots, Tiny Tyrant-Manakin, and Glossy-backed Becard. Alas, the Harpy Eagle nest in the reserve was dormant (but it may well be active a year from now!). A super-early start the next morning, in 4WD vehicles, enabled us to reach the famed INPA tower about 50 km north of Manaus – even as we had to be rescued by a guy with a chain-saw who cut a fallen tree out of the roadway! We were thankful for his assistance and also for our 4WDs, as the road into the base of the tower was a flooded, muddy mess after recent heavy rains. The forest was just waking up as we laid out a tailgate picnic breakfast. Colombian Red Howlers and Black Spider monkeys were calling in the distance. By about 06:15, just as the sun was cresting a distant, forested ridge, we were 47 meters (155 feet) above ground, atop the sturdy metal tower! Undisturbed forest surrounded us, just below eye-level. Highlights included a very close Guianan Puffbird, a Guianan Toucanet Suzi spotted for us, a handsome pair of Waved Woodpeckers, 3-4 Pompadour Cotingas, an especially good view of Olive-green Tyrannulet, Golden-sided Euphonia, several Red-billed Pied Tanagers, Yellow-green Grosbeak, a couple of brilliant Paradise Tanagers that Lisa spotted, and remarkably close, repeated studies of Purple, Short-billed, Red-legged, and Green honeycreepers. An Amazonian Pygmy-Owl also came in nicely, and was duly mobbed by numerous small birds including the honeycreepers, White-necked Jacobin, Black-eared Fairy, and Fork-tailed Woodnymph.
We rolled into the little town of Presidente Figueiredo a little ahead of lunchtime, and what a fine lunch it was: roasted Tambaqui fish (a large, vegetarian member of the Piranha family; absolutely delicious!) with sides of vegetables, potatoes, beans and rice, salad, guava and cupuaçu juices (the latter a relative of cacau), and assorted other cold drinks. After a little time to digest, as we watched Painted Parakeets in açaí palms around the restaurant and Golden-faced Saki Monkeys feeding on buriti fruits in huge Moriche palms, we ventured into the forest in hopes of finding Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock on a display court. We were thrilled to find at least 8-10 males in full breeding regalia on their lek, only a few yards from our viewing spot! At one point, half of them suddenly descended onto their individual display courts, crouching on the ground, motionless. We surmised that a female had appeared nearby, but never saw her for sure. Later, a Cinnamon Manakin-Tyrant gave a couple of call notes and we managed to get it into good view for a couple of minutes; it’s a rarely seen species. We also enjoyed a fine view of a male Yellow-crowned Manakin, and picked up our first Bronzy Jacamar. Sideroads near town proved to be good for Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Crimson Topaz, and the bizarre Capuchinbird.
The right (or west) bank of the lower Rio Negro was our next venue, where we birded for a couple of days around the old Amazonian town of Manacapuru. The rarely seen Chestnut-headed Nunlet was #1 our sights, and both weather and water levels looked to be ideal for making it to the arm of Lago Manacapuru where friends had found a pair of these small puffbirds a couple of years earlier. We made it to the territory with an exhilarating half-hour ride in a speed-launch. The nunlet’s habitat is chavascal, which is a stunted woodland with low diversity of tree species because it is seasonally flooded by sediment-free, tannin-rich (acidic) “blackwater”. We offered a bit of recording playback, and sure enough, there came a brief, muted response from a nunlet, confirming that the bird was indeed right there… but it refused to show or call again despite our judicious use of playback. A good ten, maybe fifteen minutes passed without a sign of the bird. This was unusual, and the suspense was (for your guides, at least!) a little scary. The breakthrough came when the male nunlet made a wing sound that revealed its close presence, and seconds later we had the bird in view! We were soon able to get it in the scopes, and we even got to see the female a few minutes later while we were going for a pair Peruvian Warbling-Antbirds. Sweet success! While we were in the field that morning, our luggage was transferred to the port of Manacapuru and loaded on to our private, live-aboard Amazon river boat, Dorinha, which had arrived, from Manaus, the night before. Our good friend and local guide, Moacir Fortes, Jr. (better known simply as Junior) was there to meet us, and offered to give us a brief tour of the flutuantes (floating shops) at the dock, which was fun. We then moved into our comfy cabins, and gathered in the dining area for a meet-and-greet session with the crew of Dorinha, which was fun. Junior gave us orientation on safety aboard Dorinha and also in the smaller canoes we would use to go ashore on islands and terra firme trails. Our first lunch was served a little while later, and was a proper showing of the delicious and varied meals we would enjoy over the coming week.
As it turned out, we were motoring down the great Rio Solimões at roughly midday, not exactly the best hours for birding, but a light cloud cover and welcome breeze made for pretty comfortable conditions. We called a stop on Ilha Paciência, which neither Marcelo nor I had birded before. We found a good landing spot, and soon began seeing lots of birds specialized to occupy this “young island” vegetation zone dominated by dense Gynerium canegrass and other grasses, Ipomaea morning glories, and scattered taller trees including stands of Cecropia humboldtiana. The lifers were coming fast, among them Oriole Blackbird, Red-capped Cardinal, Lesser Hornero, Tui Parakeet and Green-rumped Parrotlet, Yellow-chinned, Dark-breasted, White-bellied, and Parker’s spinetails in quick succession, the fuscatior subspecies of Fuscous Flycatcher endemic to whitewater river islands, a fine pair of Riverside Tyrants, and Bicolored Conebill. Just a couple of hundred yards farther along, in slightly taller vegetation, we efficiently picked up Red-and-white Spinetail, River Tyrannulet, Hooded Tanager, and Pearly-breasted Conebill – then finished up with an excellent view of Black-and-white Antbird, perhaps the most distinctive of all of the whitewater island endemic birds. Whitewater island birding continued the following morning on Marchantaria Island, where taller forest on the upstream end started with raucous bunches of Short-tailed Parrots, Festive Amazons, and White-winged Parakeets. Minutes later, in the shade of the forest, we soon enjoyed Spot-breasted (thanks, Patsy!) and Little woodpeckers, Blue-tailed Emerald and Olive-spotted Hummingbird, Rusty-backed Spinetail, fabulous comparisons of Zimmer’s, Straight-billed, and Striped woodcreepers, Castelnau’s Antshrike, Leaden Antwren, Rusty-fronted and Spotted tody-flycatchers, the river island form of Yellow-olive Flatbill (subspecies insignis) with its nest near a large wasp nest, a very low, close Dull-capped Attila, a fabulous, displaying male Amazonian Black-Tyrant, and a fancy male Orange-backed Troupial. We continued down the Solimões to its confluence with the Rio Negro, just below Manaus. The encontro das águas was very sharply defined, and we took some time to discuss and appreciate the phenomenon of this remarkable “meeting of the waters”.
The morning of 22 September was surely one to remember. We awoke in the central Anavilhanas archipelago of blackwater river islands for a pre-breakfast outing in our canoes. We were under a new moon. The heavens were spectacularly dark and infinitely starry, the Milky Way arcing brilliantly almost horizon to horizon. Moving forward quietly in our canoes, we spotlighted several Hoatzins and a pair of Gray-cowled Wood-Rails on their night roosts. We could hear a couple of distant Spectacled Owls, and we soon had one in the spotlights as well. A couple of huge Bulldog Fishing-Bats winged by silently, inches above the water, echo-locating to find small fish to gaff with their razor-sharp claws. Returning to Dorinha, Homer’s “rosy-fingered dawn” provided just enough light to reveal the shapes of Band-tailed Nighthawks, dozens of them, foraging above us with erratic swings and swoops. These little nighthawks, perhaps the smallest caprimulgids in the world, are on the wing for only a couple of hours per day, at dawn and dusk, efficiently filling their crops with hundreds of tiny aerial insects. A handsome male Ladder-tailed Nightjar hunting insects from a low perch added to our excitement. Diurnal birds were just starting to sing as we gathered on the top deck for a superb, open-air breakfast. Amazon River Dolphins and a few Tucuxis (the smaller, gray dolphin) were having their breakfast in the perfectly still waters around our boat. I sent up the drone for a couple of minutes to show the verdant vastness of the Anavilhanas archipelago around us; we were in a truly remote wilderness setting, not another vessel for miles in any direction. Festive Amazons were hollering on all sides, and we took advantage of being on the top deck to get eye-level views of them and also a pair of Crimson-crested Woodpeckers. We then promptly loaded into the canoes for the short transfer to our birding trail – and even before everyone could get ashore, two gorgeous male Wire-tailed Manakins showed up on a display perch – WOW! That was one of the “most-wanted” on this morning’s list of possibilities, and they certainly did delight – but there were birds everywhere! As I had predicted at breakfast, we would hardly walk 200 yards all morning, there was so much to see here! Indeed, Varzea Schiffornis, Green-tailed Jacamar, Long-billed Woodcreeper (and the other flooded-forest woodcreepers we had seen yesterday), Streak-throated Hermit, Blue-chinned Sapphire, Black-crested Antshrike, Blackish-gray Antshrike, Klages’s Antwren, Ash-breasted Antbird, and Snethlage’s Tody-Tyrant showed well, and our boatmen helped us with spotting a couple of Pale-throated Three-toed Sloths along the way. All of this and we were back to Dorinha by 10:00
The next few days of birding explorations of the Rio Negro were delightful. Highlights in the extensive chavascal woodlands of Jaú National Park included a couple of Sungrebes, Amazonian Antshrike, Cherrie’s Antwren, Lafresnaye’s Piculet, Amazonian Tyrannulet, Brown-headed Greenlet, and Pelzeln’s Tody-Tyrant (if it is not an undescribed close relative of that species!). Terra firme trails deeper into Jaú produced a stunning male Tawny-tufted Toucanet, and an equally stunning male Pavonine Quetzal. We also picked up White-chested Puffbird, Rufous-tailed Xenops, and the jumanus subspecies of Chestnut Woodpecker to complement the highly distinctive yellow-crested, nominate subspecies we had seen across the Negro, near Presidente Figueiredo. Giant Otters were scarce this year (higher water always makes them harder to find), but we did get to see a family of five: mom, dad, and three youngsters! We also visited the floating platform where several Amazon River Dolphins have become habituated to feedings. We watched a brief video describing the importance of the dolphins to the ecosystem, the establishment of the national park, and the people of the town of Novo Airão. The gals in charge there then took us around to feed these amazing animals, and even to touch them -- check out the video!
We also had one morning near Novo Airão. We had an early breakfast and went to a little-used dirt road especially in hopes of finding Rufous and White-winged potoos. Try as we might for the Rufous, we got not a single answer, but with some patience and a bit of luck, we enjoyed a fantastic view of a White-winged Potoo that came in to perch exactly where we had pre-focused our telescopes! Shortly after dawn, the action turned to Ivory-billed Aracaris, Gilded Barbets, Ringed Woodpecker, Amazonian Trogon, Rufous-capped Antthrush (good spotting, Patsy!), Duida Woodcreeper, Wing-barred Piprites, and an elusive Musician Wren. It was fun to put the telescopes on a Screaming Piha delivering its amazingly loud, head-snapping scream; that one is so often “heard only”. A Humboldt’s Night Monkey peeked out of its cavity in a large tree, allowing most of us to see it fairly well before it retreated.
Our final morning of birding was at the Museum of the Amazon (MUSA), right at the edge of the bustling city of Manaus. We made it to the top of the MUSA tower shortly after dawn. Some of the good sightings included Marail Guan, Chapman’s Swift, Swallow-tailed Kites, a fine pair of Black-faced Hawks, Guianan Puffbird, very close Black-necked Aracaris, several pairs of White-throated and Channel-billed toucans, a fabulous view of a pair of Red-necked Woodpeckers, scope views of Dusky Parrots below eye-level, and a breath-taking fly-by pair of Scarlet Macaws right at eye-level. We did not have a canopy flock come by close, but we managed to pull in a couple of good flock members: Spot-backed Antwren (excellent views of male and female) and Guianan Woodcreeper. Also exciting from the tower were several Guianan Bearded Saki Monkeys – the second sighting of the tour (this one is often missed altogether)! Down on the ground, for our final hour of birding, we had the good fortune to hit the best mixed-species understory flock of the entire tour! There were some 30 species present, and most stayed around for 20-30 minutes. Fasciated Antshrike, Brown-bellied Stipplethroat, Gray Antwren (soon to be split as Northern Gray Antwren, Myrmotherula cinereiventris), Amazonian Barred Woodcreeper, Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper, and Tawny-crowned Greenlet all allowed repeated views. But “best in show” must go to the immature male Black-throated Antshrike Marcelo spotted for us as it foraged very near the ground and close to the trail – that was a great bird to get!
After lunch and a siesta, some of us opted for a late-afternoon city tour. Junior met us downtown for a spin through the original Amazonian markets near the port of Manaus, and a guided tour of the famed Teatro Amazonas – the Manaus Opera House, a fitting close to Field Guides’ 2025 Rio Negro Paradise: Manaus tour.
Thank you all so much for joining us, Marcelo and I really enjoyed birding with everyone, and we hope to see you again for more great Brazilian birding adventures!
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/424771
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/mao25TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Bret and Marcelo