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 
& Venezuela

in 2010

In 2010, FONT birding & nature tours will continue in South America, the richest continent in the world for birds. 
Included in our schedule of South American tours will be those in:
Venezuela, in the spring, and Brazil, including Amazonian Brazil, at various times throughout the year.   
Other FONT South American tours in 2010 are to Argentina & Chile in November & December.

Our Venezuela tour in the spring of 2010 will be in the eastern part of the country, where there's a great variety of bird species. A number of them are "Pantepui specialties", and about 40 of them are endemic to that region.
Particularly well represented there are birds in the cotinga family.          

Brazil has one of the richest and most interesting avifaunas in the world. During the last 20 years, there have been 46 FONT birding & nature tours in Brazil, during which cumulatively about 1,040 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 2010, if the birds are there, we'll also be at a place where, during our tours in the past, we've seen Harpy Eagles at a nest. 
      
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.

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're scheduled to be there in 2010, as we were in 2009, 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 3 times during our tours in the last 3 years, we've seen Jaguars
During one of our tours there in Mato Grosso do Sul, 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 since then, in  March & August 2008, and in March 2009.    
A particularly 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.


The Red-fan Parrot is to be seen
during FONT tours in both Venezuela
and Amazonian Brazil

Itineraries in 2010 & 2011  (with prices):

Tour BR-1
Feb 3-15, '10

 

BRAZIL

AMAZONAS 
(into & out 
of Manaus)


A special tour 
for 
Amazonian
specialty birds,
including
antbirds, 
parrots & potoos,
cotingas
& coquettes,
manakins 
& more

this tour filled
Tour VE-1
Apr 3-17, '10


VENEZUELA

in eastern states
inc. Sucre & Bolivar


 

A tour for 
Venezuelan endemic
& specialty birds
of the Tepui region
& Amazonian forest
including
an assortment of
cotingas
and antbirds,
Harpy Eagle,
& more

this tour filled   
 
Tour BR-2
Jul 29 - Aug 8, '10

 

BRAZIL

AMAZONAS 
(into & out 
of Manaus)


A special tour 
for 
Amazonian
specialty birds,
including
antbirds, 
parrots & potoos,
cotingas
& coquettes,
manakins 
& more

  
some space
still available

 
Tour BR-3
Oct 16-30, '10



BRAZIL

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-3A
Oct 30 - Nov 3

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

 

Tour BR-2
Aug 6-20, '11


BRAZIL

IGUAZU FALLS & 
MATO GROSSO
including the 
PANTANAL,
the Cerrado,
& Serra das Araras 

A Tour for 
"Jabiru & Jaguar" 



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

Tour BR-3
Aug 21-29, '11



BRAZIL

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

 

 

A Complete List 
of Brazilian Birds 
(noting about 
1,040 species
during FONT Tours):

 
Part 1: Tinamous to Flycatchers

Part 2: Antshrikes to Grosbeaks
Brazilian Rare Birds 
(with photos)
Brazilian 
Mammals & Other Wildlife
(with photos)
South American 
Mammals & Other Wildlife
(with photos)


A List of 
Venezuela Birds

A Complete List
of Birds
of the 
Amazon Basin
(including Brazil,
Ecuador & Venezuela)
 



Birds during 
FONT Tours in:

Mato Grosso

Minas Gerais

Rio Grande do Sul

Southeast Brazil

(all of these 
bird-lists 
are with photos) 

 
Some Previous Brazil 
Tour Highlights


Narratives relating to previous FONT Tours:
"Mergansers, Eagles,
& a Sloth"
"Hyacinth Macaw,
many other birds,
& a Jaguar"
The Tour with the
Most Birds

Photos of Animals
 & Birds
(from our 
Sep '06 Brazil Tour )

Photos of Nature
& Scenery
(from our
Mar '08 Brazil Tour)
 

Photos of Birds 
& Animals
(from our
Oct '09 Brazil Tour)



Birds in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul,
mostly Egrets & Jabiru Storks,
photographed during a FONT tour in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil 



It's usually not easy to see an antpitta.
In the 2 photographs above, there's a female Variegated 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 this bird at eye-level (ours & its), as it was sitting on its nest.
We stood still and enjoyed the rare sight, 
and in particular the large antpitta with its big dark eyes.
In these pictures, the antpitta is looking right at us,
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.
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)