Brazil is the fifth largest nation on earth, has the third largest avifauna, and possesses more endemic species of birds than any other single country in the world.  Beyond that, Brazil offers birders their best chance for the New World’s most impressive raptor, as well as its greatest feline.  This trip is designed to sample the riches of Brazil’s amazing birding and natural history diversity.  Fine accommodations and multiple night stays at each location will ensure us the opportunity to explore each area thoroughly, and to acquire a genuine intimacy with the special wildlife that defines the ecology of each unique region.  After arriving in Rio de Janeiro, our destination is the Hotel do Ype, which has earned a reputation as one of the world’s great birding venues.  Situated in the cloud forests of Itatiaia National Park, the Serra do Mar is a center of endemism in Brazil.  Vying for attention at the charming, family-owned inn are Black Jacobin, Brazilian Ruby, and Frilled Coquette, among the many hummingbirds, and Magpie and Diademed Tanagers in the mixed flocks patronizing the grounds.  Higher up the mountain it is possible to find the gorgeous Black-and-gold Cotinga, Black-breasted Plovercrest hummingbird, and the Giant Antshrike.  Next our journey takes us to Cuiabá in western Brazil’s famed Mato Grosso.  Since their discovery in 1998, a pair of Harpy Eagles have held a territory on a ranch just 80 miles (120 k) outside of the capital.  Aside from providing us a realistic chance of seeing the world’s largest bird-of-prey, the fazenda is home to such other beauties as Marbled Wood-Quail, Red-shouldered Macaw, Ocellated Poorwill, and Striolated Puffbird. After two nights exploring the ranch we begin our descent into the world’s largest freshwater wetland, the Pantanal.  Here we are almost guaranteed to see Hyacinth Macaw, the largest member of the parrot clan.  Only about 3000 Hyacinth Macaws remain in the wild, but they are relatively common along the Transpantaneira Road.  At this season, wildlife should line the permanent canals and water courses of the vast, seasonally flooded lowlands of the Paraguay River.  Often birding from boats, as well as the lightly-traveled roads, we will search the Pantanal for such big, spectacular birds as Greater Rhea, Southern Screamer, Maguari Stork, Jabiru, King Vulture, Black-collared Hawk, and Blue-throated Piping-Guan.  Thousands of Yellow Caiman and Capybara share these same threads of water with the birds, and there is real possibility we may encounter Anaconda, Giant Anteater, and Marsh Deer—or all of these.  And—of course—there are Jaguars.  Boats frequently permit the closest approach to the big, roseate-spotted cats, and the area we are visiting has the greatest known density of Jaguars in the Western Hemisphere.  To conclude our Brazilian adventure we drive to the Chapada, entering the sculped red sandstone formations where waterfalls are born and canyon riparian corridors are actually tentacles of the enormous Amazonian rain forest.  Here we will visit a roosting site for macaws and swifts and a have full day to bird the Chapada area’s gallery forest and its unique cerrado avifauna.

Leaders: Miguel Castelino & Rick Taylor