A visual journey through the vibrant birds and wildlife captured during our last adventure to the atlantic forest and the southern Pantanal in Brazil. From the open flooded areas in Mato Grosso do Sul to the lush greenery of the mountains along the atlantic coast, each photograph tells a story of beauty. Join us to revisit the best moments frozen in time.
*all photos have been taken in the field by Alejandro Pinto
The Atlantic Forest of Brazil is renowned for its incredible bird diversity, housing a high number of colorful and captivating endemics, from the iconic toucans to the colourful tanagers.
The Saffron Toucanet is a fairly common bird, usually in small groups foraging in the montane forest, at least 3 of them were feeding in the Cecropias and Guaba trees near our lodge. this bird was high in the target list!
Despite it is not an endemic bird, the Sharpbill is quite hard to watch and even harder to get a good photo. this moment was very special!
the Chestnut-bellied Euphonia is a must if you are watching birds in the Atlantic forest, a common birds in the montane humid forest.
a very handsome Gray-hooded Attila, which inhabits the subcanopy and mid levels of humid lower montane forest.
Perches are so important for raptors. this Bat Falcon stay for long periods of time at the very same perch in order to scan the area, giving us a show and a great opportunity for photos!
yes, Tanagers are so colorful in the Atlantic forest, here the endemic Red-necked Tanager, close up!
Manakins are quite special birds, their behaviour, colors and fast moving foraging skills are eyes-catching. we found this Pin-tailed Manakin male getting small berries in the sub canopy.
Several endemic foliage-gleaners species inhabits the atlantic forest and it is a challenge to watch and identify them, even more challenging get a good photo. fortunately this handsome and unmistakable Black-capped Foliage Gleaner posed for us!
the endemic Golden-winged Cacique, unlike other caciques, often not very conspicuos.
rare and local in marshes, often quite small and surrounded by forest, the Red and white Crake could be very challenging to photograph, specially because of its shy behavior.
we are never tired of photograph hummingbirds, they are by far some of the most eye-catching birds out there. this Violet-capped Woodnymph is quite common and widespread in the lower growth.
Brassy-breasted Tanager one of the most beautiful endemic birds of the atlantic forest, locally common in canopy and borders in humid forest, usually dont join to mix flocks.
the Streamer-tailed Tyrant, displaying in order to defend the territory!
Piculets are small versions of woodpeckers and definetely not easy to photograph, we found this male White-barred Piculet foraging with a mix flock into the humid montane forest.
The second portion of the trip took place in the brazilian pantanal and cerrado of the Matto Grosso do Sul state. Pantanal is one of the last major untouched nature reserves on earth, in Brazil, the original vegetation cover remains intact in 85% of the wetland plain. The wildlife is amazingly abundant and its seasonally flooded areas attract immense quantities of fauna.
we were on the way to our first birds and wildlife spot, when we spotted this King Vulture perch very relaxing on a post, with no doubt one of the beauties out there!
Birds and wildlife in the Pantanal are very cooperative. the Plumbeous Ibis is restricted to this biome, with a very sober and elegant plumage is one of the targets out there!
The Maguari Stork is a large species of stork that inhabits seasonal wetlands of South America, It is the only species of its genus (Cicconia) to occur in the New World and is one of the only three New World stork species, together with the Wood stork and the Jabiru
during one of the Safaris, we spotted in the distance a Lowland Tapir in one of the ponds, we jumped out of the car and walked to get closer and have a front row view. The Tapir was very relaxing having a sunbath and was not uncomfortable with us – 20 meters away – enjoying such a great animal.
What a bird! this one is the eye-catching Spot-backed (Chaco) Puffbird! A chunky species with a strong orangish bill and collar.
Pantanal is not only about birds, wildlife is abundatn here and usually easy to spot, specially during a well designed safari in the right place. this huge male Marsh Deers was one of the common mammals.
A Southern Tamandua visiting termites nest early in the morning. This one even not pay attention to us and just kept on its dutties.
we were starting one of the afternoon Safaris when suddenly this Great-horned Owl flew from the forest floor to this perch with such a prey!
despite the Red and Green Macaw is widespread, you dont have many often the opportunity to watch and photograph this species from above, in some places of the Cerrado the skinholes gives you this opportunity.
Red-crested Cardinal, is a very beautiful bird out there! ts natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and heavily degraded former forest, at an elevation, It often occurs close to rivers, marshes and lakes.
Red-legged Seriema, unmistakable, very elegant upright standing bird which is always in open woodland, thorny scrub and hilly grassland. in the morning or the afternoon they usually walk in pairs, found a higher area - over a termites nest - and sing togheter to mark their territory.
a White Monjita preening itself in the Cerrado tropical forest.
this bird is a Rock star! Crested Doradito is one of the patchy dsitributed birds, only found in tall grass marshy areas, very localized in usually hard to see. State park várzeas do rio ivinhema is one of the few places where is possible. we were looking for this bird for a couple of days with no success, but our local guide used all his knowledge to put us in the right spot, bingo!
at the end of the trip we leave Invinhema area and started our drive back to Campo Grande, once on the highway we saw a Giant Anteater crossing the road, we turn on our parking lights to advice other cars on the road to drive carefully and luckily we found a spot to park the car and try to have a closer view of the Anteater, we jumped into a gravel road and saw the footprints on the sand, we heard the Anteater into a patch of forest and thought was gone…but it came out once again and walked right into us, stopped in front of me, smelts me and continued its way calmly, with no doubt one of the best moments – if not he best – during this trip to southern Pantanal.
we have open a 16 days set departure trip for 2025 which includes the norhern and the southern Pantanal.
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