Brazil, home of over 1800 bird species and the Atlantic forest - Mata Atlantica - with no doubt a hot spot for endemism!
The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is among the most biodiverse and threatened biomes in the world and is well known for its exceptionally high bird diversity and endemism. Originally covered 1200 million km2 along the Atlantic coast of South America, however, only ~ 12% of the original forest cover remains, mostly in small and isolated forest fragments and as a result, the Atlantic Forest has a high concentration of threatened and endemic bird species, being the most renowned neo tropical hotspot for endemism.
In 11 days, we covered a small part of the Brazil Atlantic forest, visiting the best places for birds photography, in order to watch, enjoy and photograph as many bird species as possible.
A customized prvate trip for Cindy.

endemic and vulnerable, Black-backed Tanager
we started our photography tour in Sitio Macuquinho, located in the outskirts of Salesopolis, a couple of hours north of Sao Paulo, on our welcome a familiar and cozy atmosphere. The area has patches of secondary old growth forest and native bamboo bushes which connects with Serra do Mar natural park and it is loaded with endemics and range restricted birds. we had two full days plus one morning, this, in order to have time for the high number of possible birds: Tanagers, Hummingbirds, Crakes, Tinamou... the place is really well set up, specially for photography but also for birdwatcher, you dont need to walk much to enjoy colorful and endemic birds.

Brassy-breasted Tanager at Sitio Macuquinho
forest hides at Sitio Macuquinho provides chances for several forest birds, some of them really hard to photograph, but this lodge staff has done and amazing job! despite the low light inside the forest we were able to get some good photos, like the following Brown Tinamou, a reclusive and rarely seen specie.

Brown Tinamou
but also the wetland area inside the property provide chances for mash birds, like the Red ans White Crake, present in the densely vegetated freshwater marshes, where they are year-round residents.

Red and white Crake

having a good time in Sitio Macuquinho
during the night the birding and birds photography is also high quality! we spent about 1h each nigh looking for good birds. two days in a row, we spotted the Long-trained Nightjar, the male flying is such an experience, with those very long tail feathers waving while flight; unfortunately we could not get even a record shot, but just watch it is amazing! anyway we got really good sihgts of the Rusty-barred Owl, endemic to the Atlantic Forest, found in southeast Brazil, eastern and southern Paraguay, and extreme northeast Argentina.
a couple gave us a show and perched not far from us!

Rusty-barred Owl
we were also looking for birds in the forest, despite the good activity in the feeders near the house, we venture into the forest in order to find other birds. several times during our walks we heard the very loud metallic call otf the Bare-throated Bellbird. the males of the Bare-throated Bellbirds prefers uppermost, expose branches in the tallest trees to call.
The song, which is considered one of the more strongest voices produced by a bird in South America, is composed of two elements: a scream which resembles the sound of a hammer slamming into a blacksmith's anvil, which is repeated at ca 5 second intervals; and followed by a sound that resembles a file in friction against iron (Sick 1997)
we enjoyed the full show, the male came into a exposed branch, repeated the intervals followed by a really loud metallic scream, we got the Bellbird!

Bare-throated Bellbird, singing from the canopy
The Streamer-tailed Tyrant is a really nice looking bird, during the breeding period, pairs performance displaying in duets, in the duet one is raising and fanning the tail with the head down while the other one is raising the tail with the head up and keep swinging chaging from upper to lower positions while calling in syncopation.

Streamer-tailed Tyrant during display

The colorful and always beautiful Burnished-buff Tanager
after the beautiful birds and funny time in Sitio Macuquinho, we drove few hours towards south to the area of Tapirai and Juquitiba. this area is loaded with birds and also good places for birdwatching and birds photography. the main private reserve in the area is Legado das Aguas (31.000 hectares - 76.000 acres) which is conected to the north, south and east with state parks and also with private properties intended for conservation.
our first stop, salve floresta, a nice lodge with feeders and surrounded with forest gave us opportunities for spectacular birds, including 3 species of toucans, 2 species of Woodpeckers, many Tanagers and several others in the forest.

Spot-billed Toucanet

Channel-billed Toucan

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker
one of the main targets during our trip was the endemic Saffron Toucanet, restricted to the Atlantic humid forests of southeastern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and eastern Paraguay, where could be uncommon, due to seasonal movements depending on food availability. we enjoyed a full morning in Trilha dos Tucanos, a place where this bird is quite common and stay all year round.

Saffron Toucanet
not only Saffron Toucanet is a target in the area, many other birds species moves near the lodge area in between the seconday and primary patches of forest and despite the rainy morning and the poor light we were able to enjoy other birds, like the Red-breasted Toucan, the most southern species of toucan, occuring from east central Brazil south to eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.

Red-breasted Toucan

Maroon-bellied Parakeet
we continued our journey to Legado das Aguas, the largest private reserve in the area with a web of roads and paths that allow birdwatcher plenty opportunities to explore in deep the area. the birds record is over 300 species, for sure several range restricted.
one of the first brids was the colorful and beautiful Red-necked Tanager.

Red-necked Tanager
with a lot of birds already in our pockets, we focused more in the forest birds, our guides Alex and Alejo, experts birdwatchers gave to our guest several opportunities, identifing birds by voice and sights, attracting them making possible to get good quality shots.
Several times we tried to photograph the Spot-backed Antshrike - not an easy bird to photograph at all! The Spot-backed Antshrike is a distinctive, strongly patterned antshrike of forest where forage on arthropods in dense vegetation and vines, always in the canopy. finally we got it close enought for a nice shot!

Spot-backed Anthshrike
during the night we focused on one of the most beautiful owls out there, the Black-banded Owl. we started our night walk not far from our lodge, when we heard the distintive Owl-call, we got closer to the area and waited for a while to finally get this close and clear view!

Black-banded Owl
The Black-banded Owl is a striking species of owl found across a large area of South America. The species is found in humid forest, primarily in northern South America east of the Andes, but also has a separated population southeastern Brazil, an essentially forest Owl.

succesfull days and so much fun!
last stop in the area was Sitio Esipnheiro Negro, a very cozy and familiar project which potect 19 hectares (46 acres) of primary and secondary forest, fully connected with state parks and national reserves. not only the birds in the area are very nice but also the owners attention, excellent food, nice feeders...
in the gardens the birds activity was loaded with several beautiful bird species, including some hummingbirds.

Dusky-throated Hermit
The Dusky-throated Hermit is endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, and at upper elevations is the only smaller hermit in range, occurs in humid forest and dense second growth of the littoral area and adjacent, from sea level to at least 2250 m.

Green-headed Tanager
Last stop of the trip, in the area of Peruibe - Guaraú, at sea level. he mangroove forest - restinga - and adjacent forest areas are home of high quality birds, and some very range restricted like: Black-backed Tanager, Chestnut-backed Tanager and Red-tailed Parrot. during our days there, a cold front was passing by, making even harder the field session, but we were able not only to manage the weather conditions but also making real at least two of our main targets.
Black-backed Tanager, considered Vulnerable by BirdLife International. the species’ overall range stretches in southeast Brazil, largely restricted to coastal sand-plain forest and littoral scrub.

Black-backed Tanager
The lat morning, a early departure for a big target, the southeast Brazilian endemic and globally threatened Red-tailed Parrot. This parrot’s populations were thought to have declined from 3500–4500 birds in the 1980s to fewer than 2000 individuals by the early 1990s, but a recent estimate suggested that 6600 individuals currently survive. Almost the entire population moves on a daily basis between its mangrove and other littoral forest roosting and breeding areas, and Atlantic Forest feeding areas.

Red-tailed Parrot.
one of the most striking and beautiful Woodpeckers out there! the Blond-crested Woodpecker in Mochileiros, a place with feeders run by Elen and Mr. Barata, thanks to them for helping us in the field!

Blond-crested Woodpecker.
and of course the last bird photographed on the trip, the Squammate Antbird, a Brazilian endemic, a really hard to photograph, but gave us a show, singing and posing!

Squammate Antbird

cheers for an spectacular trip!

Many many thanks to our local guides, services providers and lodges in the field, we had an special trip in brazil with tons of birds and fun. specially to Alex Mesquita and Alejandro Pinto, in charge of the birds and photo opportunities in the field, their knowledge was a key for succesful.
for more info please check our Atlantic forest trips.
also our set departure for Brazil in 2025.
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