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The 2014 Spectacular Southeast Brazil tours were fabulous trips! Weather was very cooperative (one of the main reasons we do the tour at this precise time of year), our groups were small and congenial, and very few birds slipped through the net. As usual, several participants did just one of the two main parts of the tour, which are "North of the Tropic" and "South of the Capricorn" (plus, for some, an extension to Iguaçu Falls, which is not included in the present list). At 17 days each, we moved through the Atlantic Forest (AF) of SE Brazil at a brisk but thoroughly enjoyable pace as we sought good views of all of the 170+ endemic birds of this region. The following list designates N for birds seen only on the North, S for those seen only on the South (no letter means seen on both), and asterisks denote species heard only. As usual, we were highly successful in seeing on both tours almost all of the more widespread endemic species.

Highlights must include fine studies of Solitary and Red-winged tinamous, two fabulous encounters with the globally rare Red-billed Curassow, picking up both of the split "Variable" chachalacas (East Brazilian and Scaled), and exciting nightbirding experiences with Black-capped Screech-Owl, Long-tufted Screech-Owl, Tawny-browed Owl, Rusty-barred Owl, Stygian Owl, Least Pygmy-Owl, Ocellated Poorwill, and the rarely seen nominate subspecies of Long-tailed Potoo endemic to the AF. Red-legged Seriema appeared nicely several times. Among raptors, White-necked, Mantled, and White-rumped hawks were standouts, but special accolades go to that nesting pair of Orange-breasted Falcons, the first I'd seen anywhere in the AF over all these years... Wow, what a splendid show that was!

Among 28 species of hummers, many of them endemics, Black Jacobin, Minute Hermit, Saw-billed Hermit, Frilled and Festive coquettes, Brazilian Ruby, and both stunning Plovercrests (Emerald N and Violet S) were perhaps the most thrilling. We enjoyed seeing Rufous-capped Motmot, Crescent-chested Puffbird, Three-toed Jacamar, Saffron Toucanet, Red-breasted Toucan, White-barred, Ochre-collared, and the rare Mottled piculets, and White-browed, Yellow-fronted, and the spectacular Blond-crested woodpeckers, but the AF endemics Ringed (distinctive subspecies tinnunculus) and Robust woodpeckers kept us searching hard before finally securing them in the scope. Parrots were kind to us, which is always appreciated. Tops among the lot were all three Pyrrhuras, especially nice being the Ochre-marked Parakeets that performed so tamely at the buzzer, and excellent experiences with rare Red-browed, Red-tailed, Vinaceous-breasted, and Red-spectacled parrots; those fabulous Blue-bellied Parrots in the far south were in a class by themselves.

An impressive, even daunting, antbird roster included all five of the big guys (Spot-backed, Giant, Large-tailed, Tufted, and White-bearded antshrikes), Star-throated Antwren (walk-away looks), Plumbeous Antvireo (due diligence for that one, but it paid off!), Rufous-backed Antvireo, rare Salvadori's and Unicolored antwrens, the ultra-rare Black-hooded Antwren (check out the video), two distinctive subspecies of Serra Antwren, high-fiving with Sao Paulo Antwren (described to science just last year -- it was a nail-biter!) and, later, its older sister, Parana Antwren (itself described to science only in 1996). Adding to those were great views of Ferruginous, Bertoni's, Ochre-rumped, Rufous-tailed, Dusky-tailed, Scaled, White-bibbed, and Squamate antbirds, and simply perfect assimilation of the rare Rio de Janeiro Antbird a few feet away and below eye-level. That singing male Spotted Bamboowren that graced our bins for extended views was the best of all time; it is just not possible to imagine a better view. Marsh Tapaculo is surely among the most difficult species of tapaculo to actually see, but we lucked out this time around, coming away with two good, if brief, binocular views of an adult male. Slaty Bristlefront kept us waiting for days, but it did, in the end, put on a star performance, flipping up on to the trail fully in the open before slowly hopping up the hill as we all gasped in delight, a very exciting birding moment for all of us! Its unnamed southern sister proved to be far more cooperative, parading around us for a couple of minutes! Such's and later Rufous-tailed antthrushes were, with patience, also gratifyingly cooperative, as were Speckle-breasted Antpitta and Rufous-breasted Leaftosser. Our local guide at Intervales showed us a Variegated Antpitta sitting on its nest -- a truly amazing find, the bird was hard to see even in the scope!!

Southeast Brazil is loaded with special furnariids (members of the Ovenbird family), and we nailed essentially the entire roster (one heard only) over the course of both tours. Woodcreepers, let's see... yep, got 'em all including the cuneatus subspecies of Wedge-billed, an underappreciated AF endemic. Slightly amazingly, the same can be said of the massive number of flycatchers endemic to the AF, as only a single species on our route escaped our binoculars (Eye-ringed Tody-Tyrant, weathered out) and most were seen more than once, for added emphasis and familiarity. Sweet! Cotingas were exciting, as always, the list headed by Hooded and Black-headed berryeaters, a very close Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, a couple of spectacular experiences (N and S) with Swallow-tailed Cotingas, and superb sightings of Black-and-gold and Gray-winged cotingas, both in the nick of time.

Manakins have diversified impressively in Southeast Brazil, and we made sure we saw them all well as often as possible, but it's sometimes the species you get just once that stand out, those this year being the drab (and rare) Wied's Tyrant-Manakin and the handsome Black-capped Piprites. We also picked up a fine male of the seldom-seen AF endemic Eastern Striped Manakin! Buff-throated Purpletuft fell into place fairly easily this year, as did White-browed and Riverbank warblers, which allowed unusually prolonged viewing. We also did very well on tanagers, picking up everything but the elusive Cherry-throated, which has now escaped us for several years running. To a larger extent than any of the other endemic species in the AF (at least, those seen on tours in the past ten years or so), Cherry-throated Tanager sightings are the result of great luck; you simply have to spend sufficient time in habitat, on-site, to allow yourself the chance to be in ear-shot of at least one of the very few individuals present. Black-backed Tanager got away essentially heard only this year, although we did have a pair fly over us and land out-of-sight several times one morning. The rare Black-legged Dacnis put in two far-separated but equally welcome appearances.

Among a rich host of finches and seedeaters, outstanding, for sure, was seeing several of the endangered Tropeiro Seedeater (Sporophila beltoni), described to science only a little over a year ago (check out the video). The rare, remnant montane grasslands of the far south -- with these rare seedeaters, Bearded Tachuris in flight display, Saffron-cowled Blackbirds, Sickle-winged Nightjar, and an exhilarating view of a Giant Snipe were especially productive and memorable birding venues and events for us, right at the close of South of the Capricorn.

--Bret

Note: We'll be running South of the Capricorn again in 2015, then both tours again in 2016. From that year forward, we'll be doing them both only every other year. So, you have plenty of time to plan for taking your turn birding spectacular Southeast Brazil with Field Guides! I certainly look forward to sharing some of the world's best birding with you.

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

I saw a Grison dash across the road near the Santa Catarina/Rio Grande do Sul state border.A large Yellow-footed Tortoise at Linhares was quite active, as were several monitor-like Tegu Lizards, we saw a huge Bufo icterotis toad as well, and a couple of Green Iguanas. We also came across a couple of monstrous, orange-kneed tarantulas and several enormous land snails (Megalobulimus sp.).

Totals for the tour: 536 bird taxa and 16 mammal taxa