Hyacinth Macaw— Photo: Andrew Whittaker

Brazil is an immense country of such staggering biodiversity that no single tour can hope to do it justice. Grand Brazil offers a series of three interconnecting tours that allow you to sample the best that Brazil has to offer by focusing on three completely different regions: Amazonia, the Pantanal, and the Atlantic Forest. Taken singly, each of these short tours stands alone as an in-depth introduction to a fascinating biome. Taken in concert, they provide a stunning diversity of birds, mammals, and habitats that is difficult to match.

Lying in the seasonally flooded basin of the Paraguay River, the vast lowlands of the Pantanal are home to countless numbers of waterbirds, raptors, and other wildlife. The abundance and diversity of large mammals—capybara, marsh deer, black howler monkeys, giant anteater, Brazilian tapir, giant otter, crab-eating fox, coatimundi, ocelot, and even jaguar—coupled with throngs of herons, ibis, storks, raptors, and kingfishers—is reminiscent of Africa. Our recent track record for finding jaguar at this season has been excellent, and we will make a concerted effort to find this most magnificent of New World cats.

Among the avian prizes we will seek are Greater Rheas, Snail Kite, Maguari Stork, Jabiru, Plumbeous Ibis, Southern Screamer, Chaco Chachalaca, Blue-throated Piping-Guan, Chestnut-bellied Guan, Bare-faced Curassow, Sunbittern, Sungrebe, the incomparable Hyacinth Macaw, Golden-collared Macaw, Black-hooded Parakeet, Turquoise-fronted Parrot, Toco Toucan, Pale-crested and White woodpeckers, Great Rufous Woodcreeper, Chotoy Spinetail, Red-billed Scythebill, Gray-crested Cacholote, Mato Grosso Antbird, Yellow-billed Cardinal, Orange-backed Troupial, and others. 

The Chapada is situated near the western rim of Brazil's Planalto Central—a land of beautifully eroded and fractured red rimrock formations, drained by spectacular waterfalls and dissected by deep ravines containing fingers of Amazonian forest. Huge Greater Rheas and bizarre Red-legged Seriemas frequent this open country where the melancholy whistles of Red-winged Tinamous may be nearly drowned out by the rollicking duets of the endemic White-rumped Tanagers. Special attention will be made to locate the recently described (2001) Chapada Flycatcher discovered by Kevin Zimmer and Andrew Whittaker. Other species that we hope to see include Crowned Eagle, Blue-winged Macaw, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Little Nightjar, Biscutate and Great Dusky swifts, Dot-eared Coquette, Horned Sungem, Checkered Woodpecker, White-eared Puffbird, Rufous-winged Antshrike, Rusty-backed Antwren, Collared Crescentchest, Helmeted Manakin, Curl-crested Jay, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, White-banded Tanager, Yellow-billed Blue Finch, and Coal-crested Finch.

Combine this tour with our Alta Floresta's Cristalino Jungle Lodge tour and/or our Itatiaia National Park: Atlantic Forest Wonderland tour to sample the avian and mammalian riches of southern Amazonia and/or the endemic-rich Atlantic Forest.

Good accommodations and good food throughout; easy terrain; most birding along lightly-traveled gravel roads or on good, flat trails; full mornings of birding, with significant post-lunch breaks on most days; some afternoon boat trips; generally warm to hot, dry climate.