Northeastern Brazil Jan 07—24, 2006
Posted by Andrew Whittaker
Andrew Whittaker
Andrew Whittaker's passion for birding and natural history started at the early age of seven in the UK. Since 1982 Andy has worked and studied birds worldwide in C...Related Trips
As deep indigo blue filled the scope, two bright yellow areas of bare skin, the first a fine teardrop around the eye, the second a neat triangle at the base of the huge black bill, confirmed that we were enjoying spectacular views of Lear's Macaw! Deep in the immense sertão (the arid interior of northeast Brazil) we had located a flock of 35 Lear's (or Indigo) Macaws, one of the world's rarest and most spectacular parrots. The late afternoon sun bathed these exquisite birds in near-perfect light as we watched them feed at close range. It was fascinating to see the macaws delicately separate individual palm fruits from the clumps before neatly slicing through the rock-hard nuts to extract the prized seeds within.
This year the arid caatinga of Northeast Brazil was undergoing a major drought, with many areas suffering the effects of months without any precipitation. This prolonged drought seemingly delayed the onset of breeding activity for many birds, and severely impacted vocal activity. In spite of this, our trip was one of our best ever, with many memorable trip highlights and superb birding throughout. Above all, 2006 will be remembered as the year of the Ruby Topaz, as we saw hundreds, the majority of them stunning males!
We began at Fortaleza and, from there, ascended to the cooler forested slopes of the Serra do Baturité. Before we had even completed check-in at our hotel, the gardens had produced breathtaking views of Red-necked Tanagers. The next day, forested trails treated us to our best views ever of the highly threatened Gray-breasted Parakeet, as well as close encounters with Ochraceous Piculet, Gould's Toucanet, Buff-breasted Tody-Tyrant, Ceará Gnateater, Band-tailed Manakin, Rufous-breasted Leaftosser, and the rarely seen Spot-winged Wood-Quail, a pair of which serenaded us with their amazing antiphonal duet.
The Chapada do Araripe produced an array of special birds, from the outrageous Blond-crested Woodpecker to the rhythmic White-browed Antpitta and the unique Great Xenops, not to mention dazzling White-naped Jays, abundant Rusty-margined Guans, and the improbable Red-billed Scythebill. But it was the Araripe Manakin, a stunning study in crimson, black, and white, that really stole the show. Described to science in 1999, it remains known from only a couple of locations. We have been fortunate to find it on every tour to this region since its discovery.
Farther south, we penetrated the most arid part of the caatinga, where columnar cacti, thorn-scrub, and terrestrial bromeliads dominate the landscape. Here, as usual, birds were abundant, particularly around isolated pools of water. Caatinga Parakeet, Spot-backed Puffbird, Caatinga Cacholote, Red-shouldered Spinetail, White Monjita, Greater and Lesser wagtail-tyrants, Scarlet-throated Tanager, Red-cowled Cardinal, and Campo Oriole were just a few of the many special birds seen well in this region.
A stop in the Itabuna area once again paid off in a stellar performance by the odd Pink-legged Graveteiro, an acrobatic member of the Furnariidae just described to science in 1996. Jequié produced great studies of the newly described and flashy São Francisco Sparrow, Golden-tailed Parrotlet, Blue-winged Macaw, Spotted Piculet, Silvery-cheeked Antshrike, Slender Antbird, Narrow-billed Antwren, and Black-billed Scythebill. The nearby humid forest at Boa Nova was alive with birds, among them Crescent-chested Puffbird, Striated Softtail, Bahia Spinetail, Tufted Antshrike, Spot-breasted Antvireo, Fork-tailed Tody-Tyrant, and the stunning Brazilian Tanager. In the higher forest, a tiny Brazilian Pygmy Owl acted as a reluctant magnet, attracting a mob scene of smaller birds that included the range-restricted Bahia Tyrannulet, as well as visually stunning Blue-naped Chlorophonia and Pin-tailed Manakin.
Chapada de Diamantina always provides an exceptional scenic backdrop for some very special birds, and this time was no different. We particularly enjoyed the always stunning male Hooded Visorbearer, as well as point-blank looks at a pair of a soon-to-be-described species of Formicivora antwren. Pectoral Antwren, Collared Crescent-chest, Buff-throated Serra Finch, and the tiny but bold Gray-backed Tachuri were just a few of the many other specialties recorded from this area. Chapada de Diamantina also produced the mammal highlight of the trip in the form of a rarely seen Oncilla (a species of spotted cat).
Conditions on the Alagoas Extension were exceptionally dry, but we started off on a high note when the hotel grounds produced excellent studies of the endangered Long-tailed Woodnymph on the first afternoon, as part of a non-stop procession of hummingbirds attending a grove of flowering Ingas. We even found the rare Tawny Piculet and its nesting/roosting site just above our chalets. Our arrival into the Murici forest the following morning was greeted by spectacular studies of a group of flaming orange, yellow, and green Jandaya Parakeets, which taped in close and landed for great scope studies. Despite the woods being quiet, we were rewarded with great studies of Black-headed Berryeater, Gray-headed Spinetail, Orange-bellied Antwren, Alagoas Antwren, Scalloped and Willis's antbirds, Black-cheeked Gnateater, Blue-backed and Red-headed manakins, and a knockout line-up of tanagers that included Seven-colored, Opal-rumped, and Yellow-backed. For the first time ever on any Northeast Brazil trip we also located the endangered and isolated distans subspecies of the White-shouldered Antshrike.
All in all, a great group of birders shared many marvelous birding and cultural experiences, good times, and much good food while racking up 421 species of birds. I eagerly await my next trip in 2007 to this wonderful corner of Brazil.