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 2009 & 2010

In 2009 & in 2010, 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 43 FONT birding & nature tours in that country, during which cumulatively 1,031 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 2009, 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 (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 & 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 during our tours in 2006 & 2007, we saw Jaguars. 
During one of our tours there 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 since then, and as recently as March & August in 2008.    
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.

Itineraries in 2009 & 2010  (with prices):

Tour BR-1
Mar 1-10, '09
with extension
to Mar 14
 
 MINAS GERAIS,
MATO GROSSO 
DO SUL
including the 
 PANTANAL
A Tour for 
"Jabiru & Jaguar"

and the rare
Brazilian 
Merganser 


Optional Extension
follows in 
SOUTHEAST
BRAZIL
until Mar 14, '09  

 

Tour BR-2
Aug 1-15, '09



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 16-24, '09



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 10-24, '09


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 24-28

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

 

Tour BR-2
Aug 7-21, '10



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 22-30, '10



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

 

 
Birds found during 
FONT Tours
in Brazil 
(1,031 different):
 
Part 1: Tinamous to Flycatchers

Part 2: Antshrikes to Grosbeaks
Brazilian Rare Birds
Brazilian 
Mammals & Other Wildlife
South American 
Mammals & Other Wildlife

Previous Brazil 
Tour Highlights

Birds during 
FONT Tours in:

Mato Grosso

Minas Gerais

Rio Grande do Sul

Southeast Brazil

(all of these 
bird-lists 
are with photos) 
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)



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)