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It's one of those beautiful, spring mornings in Itatiaia National Park, misty valleys below sunny slopes, birds singing absolutely everywhere. There is so much to see!  It's a great birding life! (Photo by guide Bret Whitney)

Our #1 goal for our Spectacular Southeast Brazil tours is simply to “live up to the name”! Of course, we’ll always do our best, but getting a rating of “Yes, spectacular!” from most of the participants is truly challenging, especially when you consider that 8 of the 12 people did both parts of the overall tour. Part 1, “North of the Tropic” and Part 2, “South of the Capricorn” run 17 days apiece (including to-and-from travel), which amounts to 30 days in the field. It is, truth be told, somewhat miraculous when everything goes essentially hitch-free day after day in multiple venues, involving sometimes remarkably different logistical preparation, etc. The 2016 tours were excellent trips all the way around. Ok, let’s go straight to the highlights reel!

North of the Tropic got out of the blocks with a couple of productive birding days in Espírito Santo, the small state just north of Rio de Janeiro. Weather was uncooperative, for sure (on/off chilly rains), but that didn’t hold us back from finding such fabulous birds as East Brazilian Chachalaca, Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle, Spot-billed Toucanet, Pygmy Nightjar, Rio de Janeiro Antbird, White-bibbed Antbird, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Spotted Bamboowren (so close!), Streamer-tailed Tyrant, Shrike-like Cotinga (Wow! Check out the video, below!), Swallow-tailed Cotinga, Sharpbill, Hooded Berryeater, Pin-tailed Manakin, and Pale-browed Treehunter, among many other Atlantic Forest (AF) endemic species. The mega-highlight, however, was finding the rare and endangered Cherry-throated Tanager. It had been several years since we had been fortunate enough to connect with this gorgeous bird, but boy did we get it beautifully this time around! The bird came in quite close and stuck around for perhaps two minutes before it melted back into the canopy – I managed to get a few seconds of video that did not coincide with the best viewing periods, but it’s fun to see, anyway, so I will drop it into the list, below. Continuing our way through Espírito Santo, we called at the Ruschi (Mello Leitao) hummingbird feeders in Santa Teresa, again on a rather rainy day. Action at the feeders was excellent, however, and our first male Frilled Coquettes stole the show. We managed to pick up the rare Wied’s Tyrant-Manakin, Spot-backed Antshrike, and Ornate Hawk-Eagle on our way down the mountains to Linhares Reserve. Three days of overcast, unusually cool weather were quite welcome there (although you guys couldn’t appreciate it so much, not knowing how warm and muggy it can be at Linhares!). As is often the case, nightbirding was really exciting there, with fabulous views of White-winged Potoo (at its southernmost known point of occurrence), Ocellated Poorwill, Black-capped Screech-Owl, and Tawny-browed Owl. So, here’s a question for you: Does four fantastic nightbirds equal one Harpy Eagle? Maybe yes, maybe no, but this year we had the choice to make, because we were treated to an absolutely unbelievable, 10-minute scope study of a huge adult Harpy Eagle, which is ultra-rare in the Atlantic Forest!! Check out the video, below! Many thanks to our friend Gustavo for spotting that incredible bird for us. Over the past ten years or so, the population of Red-billed Curassows at Linhares (the species’ ultimate stronghold) has surged. We saw them several times, and got to hear them singing (“booming”) and calling as well. I seriously doubt we’ll ever have much trouble coming up with this one again – I’m delighted to feel safe in saying! Solitary Tinamou is another one that’s become almost reliable at Linhares; we had good views again this year. White-necked Hawk performed unusually nicely this trip (we got it a couple of more times later in the tour, too), and both Maroon-faced and Ochre-marked parakeets perched for impressive scope viewing. The dreary weather may have cost us a couple of birds, however, as we missed seeing Black-headed Berryeater and Plumbeous Antvireo for the first time ever (going back to 1989!). On our way back to the airport in Vitória, we detoured to a marsh Gustavo knew and quickly picked up a singing male Crested Doradito, the first we’d ever had on the tour!

The Sao Paulo Antwren was described to science only in 2013, but we have been showing the bird to tour participants since it was discovered (around 2005). This year was perhaps the most challenging attempt. It took us nearly three hours to produce good views of one adult male, but we did, finally “git ‘er done”. Orange-breasted Thornbird was a nice bonus in the marsh there. In stark contrast were the following three days at Ubatuba, when birds seemed to drop into place effortlessly. Calm, clear weather helped a great deal, and Jonas’s hummer feeders did much of the rest. His “Sítio Folha Seca” property is simply spectacular for hummer-watching; I’ll include some video clips to help you get the picture ;-) Among other great endemics of that region were Buff-bellied Puffbird, Rufous-capped Motmot, Saw-billed Hermit, Festive Coquette, Black Jacobin (literally hundreds!), Tufted Antshrike, Unicolored and the rare Salvadori’s antwrens, Ferruginous Antbird, Black-cheeked Gnateater, Red-eyed Thornbird, Buff-throated Purpletuft, and some more fancy tanagers, the likes of Green-headed, Red-necked, and Rufous-headed.

Indeed we enjoyed the coastal region of northern Sao Paulo, with its inspiring scenery, great birding without long drives, and excellent restaurants… but all good things must come to an end… just not this trip, for next on the agenda was the mega-rare Black-hooded Antwren, the entire world population of which is in an essentially unprotected region of southern Rio de Janeiro state. After getting our butts kicked on the first attempt at my known, reliable spots for it, I decided to call a time-out (you only get one per tour), have lunch, reboot the system, and try again. Everything worked on the rebound, gracas a Deus, and a fine male antwren sang his song for us and paraded around for all to appreciate. And then the little group of (temporarily) contented birders made their way through the Serra do Mar, into the valley of the Rio Paraiba do Sul, and up into fabulous Itatiaia National Park, to bird happily ever after. Especially the following day, an unforgettable day, on the highest-elevation road in Brazil, where the forest gives way to bamboo thickets and natural grassland above treeline. Super-exhilaration! Seconds after we piled out of the van, Tom had us all scoping a handsome male Black-and-gold Cotinga, after which several skulkers decided to reveal themselves, the likes of Rufous-tailed Antbird, Rufous-backed Antvireo, Gray-bellied Spinetail, Mouse-colored Tapaculo, the handsome Black-capped Piprites, Thick-billed Saltator, and Buff-throated and Bay-chested warbling-finches. Upper elevations yielded close encounters with Itatiaia Spinetail, Large-tailed Antshrike (wowza!), and the distinctive Serra do Mar Tyrannulet. The Green-crowned Plovercrest leks were unusually quiet that day, but we did manage to score great views of one adult male. Itatiaia feeders, hanging right outside the dining room, were excellent for Frilled Coquettes, Brazilian Ruby, and Saffron Toucanets, among a wealth of other species. And Itatiaia gave us superb views of Giant Snipe (amazing!), Black Hawk-Eagle, Red-breasted Toucan, White-bearded Antshrike, Such’s Antthrush, Rufous-tailed Antthrush, Black-billed Scythebill, Fork-tailed Tody-Tyrant, White-browed Warbler, gorgeous Diademed Tanagers, and, at the last minute, a smashing Slaty Bristlefront! Tom and I were repeatedly asked how we were going to top this stuff. The answer was, “We probably won’t, but let’s try!”

With only two full birding days to go on “North of the Tropic”, we would be able to pick up relatively few new, endemic species – but among them were some wonderful birds like Three-toed Jacamar, Dusky-tailed Antbird (the last of the six fancy Drymophila), Serra Antwren, the rare Gray-winged Cotinga, Chestnut-headed Tanager, and the elusive Blackish-blue Seedeater. To make several stories shorter: We nailed them all! As is often the case, the cotinga kept us in suspense for a couple of hours, but eventually came in dramatically close. We also picked up a couple of spectacular nightbirds to close out Part 1: Long-trained Nightjar and Rusty-barred Owl in quick succession! Check out their videos in the list, below, and also the vid of the Red-legged Seriema that sidled up to us and blew out our eardrums! Tom’s photos of that seriema are on our Facebook page, and he voted it his #1 bird of the trip.

Part 2 of the overall tour, “South of the Capricorn”, marks a kind of “reset” in the birding agenda. Thus, everything we saw on Part 1, while certainly not forgotten, becomes fair game for Part 2. In fact, it’s wonderful for participants continuing from Part 1 to get additional views of most of the endemic birds of the Atlantic Forest even as folks joining just for Part 2 are getting their lifers. Of course, we made sure to position the group so our new arrivals could get good views of these species as efficiently as possible. And this year, Marcelo and I were going to have to be very efficient indeed, because the tour started wet, really too wet, and didn’t much let up for our four opening days, at Intervales State Park. This happens sometimes (albeit rarely), and is just bad luck this time of year. Fortunately, we were able to accomplish some very productive birding under umbrellas. Right off the bat, we got to see an active nest of the rare Gray-bellied Hawk (a goshawk-sized Accipiter), which marked my first-ever encounter with the species in the Atlantic Forest! This and lots of other sightings thanks to our excellent local guides, Faustino and Betinho, who had been monitoring the nest for over a month. A big adult female sat nearby, soaking wet, while her single youngster tore into a prey item on its first or second day out of the nest. Fabulous!! Little by little, almost everything we needed to see at and around Intervales fell into place, including Solitary Tinamou, Red-and-white Crake, Dusky-throated Hermit, Purple-crowned Plovercrest, another wonderful show by Long-trained Nightjar, Ochre-collared Piculet, huge Robust Woodpeckers, Pileated Parrot, White-breasted Tapaculo, the “slaty” bristlefront awaiting description as a new species, the awesome Giant Antshrike, Squamate Antbird, Star-throated Antwren at its nest, Short-tailed Antthrush, White-collared and White-browed foliage-gleaners, the massive White-throated Woodcreeper, Sao Paulo and Oustalet’s tyrannulets, Rufous-tailed Attila (finally! ‘twas nary a one on Part 1), Bare-throated Bellbird, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Cinnamon-vented Piha, Swallow-tailed Manakin, Serra do Mar Tyrant-Manakin, Shear-tailed Gray-Tyrant, Hangnest Tody-Tyrant, the rare Black-legged Dacnis, Riverbank Warbler, Half-collared Sparrow, and finally, at the last possible hour, the endangered Black-fronted Piping-Guan (whew!).

We arrived at our hotel in coastal southern Sao Paulo on a beautiful late afternoon, and enjoyed fresh seafood with caipirinhas and other cold libations as we tallied the day’s list. I felt relieved, ready for a nice, sunny morning for the upcoming Red-tailed Parrot search… but it was not to be. We once again were dealt a rainy blow. Happily, though, the parrots were there, as they almost always are, and Marcelo made a couple of great spots from the moving vans that led to everyone getting soul-satisfying (red tails showing!) scope views of this endangered, range-restricted parrot. Not only that, but we were very fortunate to be in the right place (or close to it) at the right time to spot a pair of rarely seen Uniform Crakes as they walked rather slowly across an open track; the dark, dreary weather that morning surely helped us out with that one! We also picked up a couple of close, fly-over Scarlet Ibis and a number of waterbirds, but we had to leave the area sans such specialties as Restinga Tyrannulet and Black-backed Tanager.

Our three days out of Curitiba were marked by all-around excellent birding, including catch-up with the afore-mentioned tyrannulet and the tanager, both of which were stunning sightings. Scaled Chachalaca, Parana Antwren, Speckle-breasted Antpitta, Canebrake Groundcreeper, Olive Spinetail, Kaempfer’s Tody-Tyrant, and Glaucous-blue Grosbeak all performed beautifully. In a class by itself, however, was the Marsh (Wetland) Tapaculo. After nearly an hour of little more than possibly moving blades of grass, we were on the verge of throwing in the towel. After all, seeing this thing is nigh-on impossible because its marsh-grass habitat is so dense that it is simply not possible to set eyes on the bird even as it sings its head off right in front of you. With a bit more patience, and careful repositioning, we got the payoff as the bird showed itself briefly six times, allowing everyone to get at least one decent binocular view. Now, a rare clean sweep of the eight species of tapaculos possible on both tours, including two not yet described to science, was within reach.

The last major venue on the tour is Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state. We close out our search for endemic birds of the Atlantic Forest biome birding a mosaic of habitats that includes remnant patches of the native grasslands that once covered extensive areas of the far south, now converted to ranching, agriculture, and, increasingly, plantations of eucalyptus and pine trees that have almost zero wildlife value. Fortunately, weather was great for us and we nailed essentially everything we were hoping for! Mention of just a few on the roster of forest-based birds must include Long-tufted Screech-Owl, the scarce Mottled Piculet, White-spotted Woodpecker, the shy and difficult Blue-bellied Parrot, the endangered Red-spectacled Parrot, Rufous-breasted Leaftosser, Scalloped Woodcreeper, Firewood-gatherer, Araucaria and Striolated tit-spinetails, Black-capped Piprites (again!), Swallow-tailed Cotinga (again!), Azure Jay, beautiful Chestnut-backed Tanagers, and Green-throated Euphonia.

Open country species represented a high percentage of Rio Grande do Sul highlight species, among them Red-winged Tinamou, bastante Red-legged Seriemas, Great Dusky, Sooty, and Biscutate swifts all low and close, Long-tailed Cinclodes, Straight-billed Reedhaunter, Hellmayr’s and Ochre-breasted pipits, Lesser Grass-Finch, Black-bellied, Tawny-breasted, and -- oh yes! -- the recently described, very rare Tropeiro Seedeater, which came in for point-blank scope studies! A couple of marshy swales produced rare Black-and-white Monjitas and Saffron-cowled Blackbirds, and, on one memorable evening, even a Giant Snipe that came by like a ghost (and roared overhead like a freight train!), as there was just barely enough light to see its massive shape.

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 tours), and asterisks denote species heard only. Tom, Marcelo, and I tremendously enjoyed birding with all of you! We all felt that our groups this year were exceptionally cohesive and jovial. Thanks so much for joining us, we very much look forward to seeing you on future Field Guides tours, whenever and wherever your schedules dictate.

Com grandes abraços para todos, Bretche

SPECIAL NOTE: Watch for more imagery (hummers, toucans, woodpeckers, flycatchers, and and "extras reel") to be added to our triplist as soon as I am home from the Northeast Brazil tour in mid-February!

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

A number of other interesting creatures were spotted along the way, some regularly, others just once, including Grison (a pair foraging in a grassy marsh in Rio Grande do Sul); a Patagonian Skunk; some huge Tupinambis tegu lizards; a Yellow-legged Tortoise (Linhares); a side-necked turtle; a stunningly green Plica sp. lizard at Itatiaia; and a Bahia Forest Frog (Macrogenioglottus alipioi). This latter frog is rarely seen, at least at Intervales, where our local guides Betinho and Faustino were quite excited to see it, telling us they'd seen one just once or twice in the lives. We also saw a couple of huge Marine Toads and a couple of massive Bufo icterotis toads. The fantastic land snail we saw at Intervales was genus Megalobolaimus, I believe. The beautiful, pom-pom shaped plants we saw in southern Brazil were Paepalanthis, "sempre-vivas". Photos of some of these animals and plants will be included in the imagery accompanying this list.

Totals for the tour: 550 bird taxa and 19 mammal taxa