PO Box 9021, Wilmington, DE 19809, USA
E-mail: font@focusonnature.com
Phone: Toll-free in USA 1-800-721-9986
 or 302/529-1876; Fax: 302/529-1085

  

Birding & Nature Tours 
in South America - 1

 in Brazil 

in 2008 & 2009

In 2008 & 2009, more FONT birding & nature tours in South America are scheduled to go to Brazil (with links to itineraries & bird-lists etc below).  
And other South American tours will be to Argentina & Chile.

In Brazil, during 18 years, there have been 42 FONT birding & nature tours in that country, during which cumulatively 1,032 different birds have been seen. 
Many of these tours have been to the region of Mato Grosso, in south-central Brazil, with some distinctively different areas ranging from the bird-rich wetlands of the "Pantanal" to the dry habitat of the "Cerrado". 
In the summer of 2008, we'll also be at a place where, during our tours in the past, we've seen Harpy Eagles at a nest. Now, in the spring of '08, the birds are there again!
      
FONT Brazilian birding tours also have been to "Amazonian Forest" locales including the Rio Cristalino near Alta Floresta, a place called "Jardim da Amazonia" ("the Garden of the Amazon"), and the region of Manaus.

The "Atlantic Forest" and other habitats of the Southeast are also visited during FONT Brazilian Tours, near the coast and further inland in Sao Paulo State (either at Itatiaia or Intervales). 

There are also many interesting birds indigenous to Southeast Brazil, further inland, where we also go during our tour into the state of Minas Gerais. Particularly notable among those birds has been the very rare Brazilian Merganser, that we've seen during 6 tours in that area (the latest in March 2008).

A Photograph of a rare Brazilian Merganser

A region of Brazil that we have found to be very bird-rich is the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul. We'll be there in 2008 when it's spring in that part of the world (in October), during a tour that also includes Minas Gerais, and an extension to Mato Grosso do Sul, where during our tours in both 2006 & 2007, we saw Jaguars. 
During one of our tours recently in Mato Grosso do Sul, in 2006, there were: 
as many as 7 Ocelots, a Pantanal Cat, a Maned Wolf, two Brazilian Tapirs, many Giant Anteaters, and other animals. Good wildlife sightings, with many birds & animals, have continued during tours there as recently as March 2008.    
A rare animal found during that March '08 FONT tour in Brazil was the Maned Three-toed Sloth.            

Itineraries of our tours in Brazil follow. Also, links to lists of birds, mammals, butterflies, and other nature. 
Jabiru, 
a bird of the Pantanal of Brazil 



Brassy-Breasted Tanager,
a Brazilian endemic in the Southeast.

Itineraries in 2008 & 2009  (with prices):

Tour BR-2
Jul 26-Aug 9, '08

IGUAZU FALLS & 
MATO GROSSO
including the 
PANTANAL,
the Cerrado,
& Serra das Araras 
(where we've seen
Harpy Eagle;
it's there again!)

A Tour for 
"Jabiru & Jaguar" 



This tour can be done
in conjunction with
Tour BR-3 

Tour BR-3
Aug 9-17, '08

SOUTHEAST 
BRAZIL
including the
 ATLANTIC FOREST
at Itatiaia & Intervales
 & 
near the coast 
at Ubatuba


This tour can be done
in conjunction with
Tour BR-2

 Tour BR-4
Oct 5-19, '08

 In the 
states of
MINAS GERAIS
& RIO GRANDE DO SUL
for birds & other nature
of inland SE & far-southern Brazil 

During this tour we've seen 
the rare Brazilian Merganser

Tour BR-4A
Oct 19-23

Optional Extension
in the PANTANAL
in the state of 
MATO GROSSO DO SUL

 Tour BR-1
Mar 11-20, '09

 
MINAS GERAIS,
MATO GROSSO 
DO SUL
including the 
PANTANAL, 
A Tour for 
"Jabiru & Jaguar"

and 
Brazilian 
Merganser 


Optional Extension
follows with more time 
in SOUTHEAST
BRAZIL
until Mar 24, '09  

Birds during Previous Tours
in Brazil (1,032 different): 
Part 1: Tinamous to Flycatchers

Part 2: Antshrikes to Grosbeaks
Brazilian Mammals & 
Other Wildlife
Birds & Mammals during 
our Brazil Tours in:
2003    2004    2005    2006
South American Mammals
& Other Wildlife
Previous Brazil 
Tour Highlights

 

Birds during Tours in:

Mato Grosso

Minas Gerais

Rio Grande do Sul


A Photographic Sampling 
of Brazilian Animals
 & Birds
(from our Sep '06 Tour )

Brazilian Rare Birds
 


Birds in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul,
mostly Egrets & Jabiru Storks,
photographed during our Sep '06 Brazil Tour 


It's usually not easy to see an antpitta.
In the 2 photographs there's a female Variegated (or "Imperial") Antpitta
on its nest in the crotch of a tree, in southeastern Brazil.
During a FONT tour in October 2001, as we were walking
along a trail in a section of Atlantic Forest, 
we found at eye-level this bird sitting on its nest.
We stood still and enjoyed the rare sight, 
and in particular the large antpitta with its big dark eyes.
In the pictures above, the antpitta is looking right at you,
with those eyes on each side of the white on its face.
As we walked away, the bird temporarily left its nest.
We looked, before we left, at its blue eggs.
The "Imperial Antpitta" is the form of the Variegated Antpitta
in the Atlantic Forest. Another form of the species 
is in Amazonian Forest.
This description written by Armas Hill;
The photograph by Herbert Cutler (above)
and David Cutler (below).
       


Harpy Eagle in Mato Grosso, Brazil,
photographed during a FONT tour
by participant, Bill Anderson.


FONT Brazilian birding tours have been led
by Armas Hill (who has birded in Brazil during over 40 visits)