October 23-November 2, 2025 with Marcelo Padua
The Atlantic Forest is my favorite place to bird in the world and many birders I know agree with that statement. The number of endemic species, the cosmetic beauty of the habitat, the fair climate and the sheer abundance of birds make it a wonderful place to look for birds and if you combine that with a tour where one can stay multiple nights in a single place, you immediately have a winner.
Our tour starts at the Rio de Janeiro International Airport, but we quickly made our way out of the city and up into the mountains known as Serra do Mar, reaching our lodge just after lunch. We started with some easy birding around the lodge, where we got acquainted with some common species such as Rufous Hornero, Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail, Violet Capped Woodnymph and Rufous-fronted Thornbirds.
From then on, we explored several different trails at different altitudes, finding different species at each of them. We started things off with the Cedae Trail, where we found a lot of great birds that included Black-cheeked Gnateater, Ochre-breasted Foliage-gleaner and Black-capped Foliage-gleaner, Gray-hooded Atilla, Red-necked Tanager and Black-throated Grosbeak, just to name a few. We returned to the lodge in the afternoon for a quick break then headed out to the Theodoro Trail, where we connected with Star-throated Antwren, White-throated Spadebill, Bertoni’s Antbird and Swallow-tailed Manakin.
This was a great start, but there was a lot more to come, and on our next day we did a long loop towards the interior, enjoying great looks at Blue-winged Macaw, Toco Toucan, Blackish Rail, Crescent-chested Puffbird, Crested Black Tyrant, Firewood Gatherer, and even the highly localized Three-toed Jacamar. This was a long but rewarding day, with more than 100 species recorded in a single day.
Macae de Cima was our next destination, and we spent a full day birding along the dirt road that leads to this village, and we picked up an amazing number of incredible birds, with Green-crowned Plovercrest, Bare-throated Bellbird, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Pin-tailed Manakin and Ochre-faced Tody-flycatcher taking the top of the list.
We climbed even higher to find some species that are only found at higher elevations, and we came across some very rare birds at Pico Caledonia, where we had excellent views of Gray-winged Cotinga, Itatiaia Spinetail, Large-tailed Antshrike, Diademed Tanager, Serra do Mar Tyrannulet and Blue-billed Black-tyrant, before making our way down the mountain, making stops for Slaty Bristlefront, Black-and-Gold Cotinga and Red-legged Seriema before reaching our lodge and getting some rest to prepare us for a night birding walk around the lodge. This was the most productive outing for night birding we have ever had at Pousada Mariza, with Common Potoo, Short-tailed Nighthawk, Tropical Screech-owl, Rusty-barred Owl and Mottled Owl all recorded on a single night. What an amazing day.
From the highest point where we birded on the tour, we turned to sea level the following day and visited the amazing conservation and forest restoration project at REGUA, where we picked up some rare lowland species, including White-flanked Antwren and Unicolored Antwren, as well as some other more common species that included Brazilian Tanager, Black-crowned Night Heron, Greater Ani, Ferruginous Pygmy-owl and Chestnut-backed Antshrike.
Our next day was impacted by rain, something that is to be expected in the Atlantic Forest, but we made the best of it by visiting the feeders at Sitio Virtuoso and enjoying great looks at Black Jacobin, Brazilian Ruby, Scale-throated Hermit, Rufous-capped Motmot, Chestnut-bellied Euphonia, Brassy-breasted Tanagers and many more.
We wrapped things up with a visit to Tres Picos State Park, and saw Streak-capped Antwren, Gray-hooded Flycatcher, Saw-billed Hermit, Maroon-bellied Parakeet, and several other birds that we had now become acquainted with.
This was a fabulous tour and it is a classic example of why birding in the Atlantic Forest is such an enjoyable experience. I loved every minute of it and I hope you enjoyed it too.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/440703
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/tuc25TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Marcelo Padua