Birdwatching Tours in Brazil
Brazil is one of the best birding destinations. The largest portion of the world's biodiversity is found in this country, it has a great percentage of endemism, and most of its natural environments are still underexplored.
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On this tour we will travel through Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba States. We will bird in the Caatinga, an endemic environment to Brazil; in mangroves, and in two variants of the Atlantic Forest; in the mountains of Ceará State and over the coastal dunes in Rio Grande do Norte State. We will see over 100 bird species and more than 10 endemic species.
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Furthermore, we will have the privilege of participating in activities for the conservation of the Gray-breasted Parakeet, managed by the AQUASIS staff.
Birding in Northeast Brazil
10 nights
Day 1: Arrival at Pinto Martins - Fortaleza International Airpor, Ceará. Transfer to hotel in Serra de Baturité (2 hours). Birding along trails through the Atlantic Forest. We will expect to see the Reddish Hermit, Planalto Hermit, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Golden-chevroned Parakeet, Rufous-tailed Jacmar, Pale-legged Hornero, Pale-breasted Thrush, Bananaquit and Pectoral Sparrow.
Day 2: Full day accompanying the AQUASIS work team in their activities for the conservation of the Gray-breasted Parakeet, a critically endangered and endemic species. We will have the opportunity to see many individuals from a short distance.
Day 3: Birding along trails through the Atlantic Forest and visit to the highest peak in the region. Among the birds we will look for are the Gould´s Toucanet (endemic subspecies), Little Woodpecker, Ochre-backed Woodpecker, Wing-banded Hornero, Moustached Wren, Blue Dacnis, Guira Tanager and Red-necked Tanager.
Day 4: Transfer to Quixadá (1 hour). Birding in the Sertão along trails through the Caatinga. Visit to the Cedar dam and the Rock of the Brooding Hen. We will expect to see some water birds. Check in at the hotel.
Day 5: Birding along trails through the Caatinga.
Day 6: Transfer to Cerro Corá (6 hours). Check in at the hotel.
Day 7: Walks and birding through the Caatinga.
Some birds we may see at the Caatinga (days 4 to 8): White-naped Jay (endemic), Caatinga Parakeet (endemic), Caatinga Cacholote (endemic), Black-capped Antwren, White-throated Seedeater (endemic), Blue-winged Parrotlet, Pileated Finch, Red-cowled Cardinal (endemic), Laughing Falcon.
Day 8: Transfer to Pedra da Boca State Park (2 hours). Birding through the Caatinga and lunch. Transfer to Bahía Formosa (2 hours). Check in at the hotel.
Day 9: Full day birding in Mata da Estrela Private Natural Heritage Reserve. Besides the many remarkable birds we will expect to see, like the Rufous-capped Motmot, Janday Parakeet (endemic), White-bearded Manakin, Blue-backed Manakin, Black-cheeked Gnateater (endemic) and the Blue-crowned Trogon; we will also have a high chance of seeing some species of endemic and endangered monkeys like de Red-handed Howler and the Blond Capuchin.
Day 10: Sailing through the mangroves in the morning. We will look for the Little Wood-Rail, an endemic species. Birding along trails through the Atlantic Forest in the afternoon. We will expect to see the Pectoral Antwren (endemic), Gray-eyed Greenlet (endemic), Rufous-winged Antwren, White-fringed Antwren, Rufous-winged Antshrike, Burnished-buff Tanager, White-lined Tanager and Stright-billed Woodcreeper.
Day 11: Transfer to Augusto Severo - Natal International Airport.
Birding Areas
The Atlantic Forest
This is one of the most important tropical forests in South America. It has the record for number of woody plants per hectare (458 species in NE Brazil); of the 20,000 plant species, 8,000 of them are exclusive of this biome or endemic; among the animal species, 500 are only found in the Atlantic Forest. It is because of this numbers that it is considered one of the five most important biodiversity Hot Spots (high biodiversity natural areas with endemic and endangered species) in the world. Furthermore, many new species are recorded each year. Rio Grande do Norte covers an area of 3,300 km², including the restinga and mangrove ecosystems to the east of the state. This data is provided by the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve project, linked to UNESCO, which is being carried out to establish an ecological corridor from Mata da Estrela Private Natural Heritage Reserve, in the municipality of Baía Formosa, to Natal. Included in this corridor are the Ecological Sanctuary of Pipa and the National Forest of Nísia Floresta, right in the capital city. Because this coastal Atlantic Forest to the east of Rio Grande do Norte has no connection to other Atlantic Forest areas, it presents a unique plant species occurrence, which makes its conservation very important.
On the other hand, in the neighboring Ceará State is found another important area of the Atlantic Forest, localized in the Baturité and Guaramiranga Mountains. This Hot Spot is at just 100 km from Fortaleza, the capital city. It covers an area of 38,220 hectares where the highest peak reaches 1115 meters above sea level. This portion of the forest receives double of the annual precipitations of the surrounding areas. The Baturité and Guaramiranga Mountains are nationally considered an Area of Extremely High Biological Importance because they preserve remnants of the Atlantic Rain Forest and it is internationally classified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife due to the presence of numerous endangered and endemic species.
The Caatinga
This is an endemic biome restricted only to the northeast of Brazil. The word caatinga comes from the tupi language and means “white forest”. This meaning describes the forest of xeric shrubs that shed their leaves when the rains are scarce, so the landscape becomes dominated by an ash-colored plant cover. The Caatinga biome covers an area of approximately 800,000 km². More than 500 bird species occur here, and 22 are endemic to this biome.
The Caatinga biome is found inside the semiarid geographical region of northeast Brazil known as Sertão. Most parts of it are between 200 and 500 meters above sea level. It presents a short rainy season and it gets very dry most of the year. Rainfall is generally very erratic and some years rains are so minimal there are catastrophic droughts. Other times rains are so abundant and there are terrible floods. This variability causes repeated situations of famine
among the local population, whose livelihoods depend on agriculture and cattle raising. Notwithstanding the foregoing there are organizations, companies and donors that contribute to the welfare of the people of the Sertão. Birding With Me is committed to inform the tourists about this situation and to collaborate and promote collaboration. Learn more and find out how to help here.
About Brazil
Brazil is a democratic federative republic in Southamerica, located at 14° 14' 6.014" S 51° 55' 31.008" W. It borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana to the north. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, with a coastline of 7,491 kilometers. It has a surface twice as large as the European Union. The population reaches 190 million inhabitants and the population density is 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. The official language is Portuguese.
Although Brazil is mostly a tropical country, in some special regions other climatic conditions are evident in the semiarid deserts in the northeast, the temperate coniferous forests in the south, or the tropical savannas in central Brazil.
Brazil comprises the greatest biological diversity of the world, distributed in a rich variety of ecosystems, like the Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic Forest, Araucaria Pine Forest, Cerrado, Pantanal and Caatinga.
The natural areas are the most important tourism attraction. A certain percentage of ll the biomes are protected. Almost 3% of the territory is strictly protected and 4% is reserved for sustainable development.