Main Tour:

Day 1: The tour begins around midday with lunch in Cuiabá followed by the drive to our lodge in the Chapada dos Guimarães National Park. Uniquely located on an inholding within the park boundaries, Pousada do Parque has trails through the woodland as well as a short and stable canopy tower where we’ll watch the sunset before searching for Little Nightjar, Common Pauraque, and Tropical Screech-Owl. Night at Pousada do Parque.

Days 2-3: We’ll have two bird-filled days in the Chapada dos Guimarães and surrounding areas. We’ll spend one morning in a cerrado area of short woodland on red sandy soils searching for target birds such as White-banded and White-rumped Tanagers, Collared Crescentchest, Curl-crested Jay, and Chapada Flycatcher, a species described only in 2001. Another drive will have us looking for Red-legged Seriema, Greater Rhea, and Red-winged Tinamou, and we could get lucky with both White-eared and Spot-backed Puffbirds. Positioning ourselves for the midmorning soar, we could see such stunning raptors as White Hawk, Gray-headed Kite, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, or King Vulture. Another highlight will be our visit to a spectacular waterfall where we hope to see Red-and-green and Blue-winged Macaws along with Cliff Flycatchers demonstrating their name. Crested Black-Tyrant is sometimes found here as well. Finally, we’ll spend some time in the habitats reachable on foot from our lodge, where we’ll look for Large-billed Antwren, Planalto Slaty-Antshrike, Planalto Hermit, and many other species. Nights at Pousada do Parque.

Day 4: After breakfast we’ll spend a relaxed morning birding on the grounds of our hotel, cleaning up on any species we might have missed. This may be our only chance for Southern Antpipit. Soon it will be time to return to Cuiabá for our noontime flight to Alta Floresta in the southern Amazon Basin. Here we’ll feel as though we have entered a different world. The transfer to Cristalino Jungle Lodge is merely an hour by dirt road and an additional 15 minutes by boat—a short trip for the transformation from extensive ranch lands and forest fragments to countless hectares of unspoiled rainforest (a transformation made possible only in the last 40 years). However, we’ll take our time making the transfer, as there will be things to see along the way. As we settle into our rooms, we’ll see if any of the trees are fruiting, and attracting Spix’s Guans, tanagers, or any number of aracari species. Night at Cristalino Jungle Lodge.

Days 5–8: The bird list for Rio Cristalino and the surrounding area has recently breached 600 species—a higher diversity than for any similarly sized area in the world—and the many furnariids, antbirds, and flycatchers combine with such locals as Crimson-bellied Parakeet, Eastern Striolated Puffbird, Tooth-billed Wren, and Kawall’s Parrot to have us wanting to bird from dawn to dusk and beyond. We’ll spend our days walking trails near the lodge, surveying the canopy from both of the 170-foot towers, and exploring the riverine forest by boat.

Any trip along the river can hold numerous surprises, and our introduction to the Amazonian forest could include Scarlet, Red-and-green, or Blue-and-yellow Macaws flying overhead, an Amazonian Umbrellabird crossing the river in front of us, Red-throated Piping-Guans perched high in trees, or, with incredible luck, a tapir taking a cooling swim in the river.

With luck we may encounter an ant swarm, allowing us to watch at close range such species as Bare-eyed Antbird, Black-spotted Bare-eye, or even White-chinned Woodcreeper. We’ll pause for breaks during the heat of the day and for the incredibly delicious food provided by the staff, not to mention the absolutely authentic caipirinhas, the Brazilian national cocktail, which tastes its best in the tropical lowlands.

We’ll quickly realize that four days, four weeks, or even four months would not allow us to absorb all that the lower Amazon Basin has to offer. Nights at Cristalino Lodge.

Day 9: After a final morning birding this superb area, we’ll say a sad farewell and take a last boat trip along the Cristalino River to meet our transport to Alta Floresta for our afternoon flight to Cuiabá. From there we’ll settle down for the bus ride south to Poconé, where we’ll connect with the Transpantaneira Highway. Not a highway by modern definition, this is actually a raised dirt track that crosses part of the world’s largest freshwater wetland, the Pantanal, which covers approximately 90,000 square miles across Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. The Transpantaneira extends for 90 miles to Porto Jofre, with excellent roadside birding over its entire length. Once we’ve reached our lodge in the northern part of the Pantanal, we’ll have dinner and mentally prepare for the exciting birding that awaits us in the next days. Night at Aymara Lodge.

Day 10: We’ll have all day to bird the dry gallery forest trails and open grounds around our lodge, and we’ll be stunned by how different the surroundings are from the rainforest we’ve just left. For one, most of the birds are out in the open, but the sounds and feel of the habitat will be utterly new as well. The dawn chorus of Chaco Chachalacas, Turquoise-fronted Parrots, Thrush-like Wrens, and Great Kiskadees around our lodge is unforgettable, but it is the stunning Hyacinth Macaw, the world’s largest parrot, that will likely be the star of the morning—a family group often hangs out right near our rooms. Other special birds here include Red-billed Scythebill, Pale-crested Woodpecker, Mato Grosso Antbird, and White-lored Spinetail. The mammals are exciting as well. We’ll take a drive after dark with hopes of bumping into Giant Anteater or South American Tapir, but there are multiple species of armadillo, Crab-eating Fox, and three species of deer. Several nightbirds are even more likely, including Mottled and Striped Owls and two species of potoo. Night at Aymara Lodge.

Day 11: We’ll have another early morning at our lodge, perhaps walking a trail where Helmeted Manakin and Undulated Tinamou can be found, and we might get lucky with Black-bellied Antwren or Buff-bellied Hermit, both of which are scarce residents. We’ll then drive a few hours south to the terminus of the Transpantaneira Highway at Porto Jofre. Along the way we’ll see some fine birds: Black-capped Donacobius, Yellow-billed and Large-billed Terns, and several species of kingfisher, heron, and ibis will keep us alert and excited. Night at Porto Jofre.

Days 12-13: We’ll rise early for a delightful sunrise on the peaceful river and greet the day with multitudes of birds and animals as we take our first boat ride up the Cuiabá. We may be lucky enough to be the first to catch sight of an early-rising Jaguar this morning as we carefully search every shaded hideout under the riverine vegetation; or we might just spot one basking on an open sandbar or swimming across the river. Cocoi, Capped, and Rufescent Tiger-Herons are hard to miss, though we’ll have to search harder for Boat-billed Herons in the dense foliage. Pied Plovers, Black Skimmers, and Large-billed Terns perch on sandbars around many river bends. There are passerines and other landbirds as well, with Lesser Kiskadees catching insects at the water’s edge, local Ashy-headed Greenlets in mixed flocks, and Striped Cuckoos singing from exposed perches; our morning’s boat ride could easily tally 75 species in a short time. With patience we’ll have excellent chances of seeing multiple Jaguars, if not on the morning boat ride then on the afternoon excursion to the same areas.

We’ll have another morning on the river, but if we’ve had our fill of Jaguars, we can spend the second afternoon birding along the southern Transpantaneira for the likes of Scarlet-headed Blackbird, Southern Screamer, Rufous Cacholote, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Gray-breasted Crake, and many other species. As dusk falls, Nacunda Nighthawks and Band-tailed Nighthawks adorn the skies. Nights at Porto Jofre.

Day 14: We’ll depart early this morning to bird the central section of the Transpantaneira, stopping when necessary for the spectacle of herons, ibises, Jabirus, Sunbitterns, and parrot flocks along the road. We’ll stop for lunch at the Pixaim River before completing the drive to Cuiabá. Night near Cuiabá airport.

Day 15: The main tour ends this morning with flights home.

Iguaçu Falls Extension:

Day 15 (Day 1 of the Extension): In the morning, those going on the extension will fly from Cuiabá to Foz do Iguaçu, landing on the Brazil side of the falls but crossing by bus to the Argentinean side (where the spelling changes to Iguazú), from where we’ll base our birding for the next days as there is better access to habitat and more impressive views of the falls than on the Brazilian side. After lunch at our hotel we’ll bird the hotel grounds, looking for Yellow-fronted Woodpecker, Thrush-like Wren, and our first Green-headed Tanagers. In the evening we’ll visit the Jardín de los Picaflores, where Black Jacobin, Versicolored Emerald, Black-throated Mango, Gilded Hummingbird, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird and others will be buzzing around the feeders. Night in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina.

Days 16-18: On one day we’ll make an early departure for the Iguazú National Park. Before visiting the falls themselves, we’ll bird the first hours of the day in the periphery of the park, looking for Robust Woodpecker, Spot-backed and Tufted Antshrikes, Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher, Yellow Tyrannulet, Green-headed Tanager, and the superb Chestnut-bellied Euphonia. When the temperature begins to rise, we’ll head toward the falls, where we’ll have our lunch. We’ll spend the rest of the day enjoying the falls and its refreshing spray but also the other wildlife usually seen here, such as South American Coati and Black-and-white Tegu. 

On the other days we’ll be able to return to the more remote parts of the national park, but we’ll also leave very early one morning to arrive at Urugua-í Provincial Park at dawn for a chance to look for the rare Black-fronted Piping-Guan. We’ll spend the rest of the morning on the trail system looking for Surucua Trogon, Red-breasted Toucan, Ochre-collared Piculet, Large-tailed Antshrike, Bertoni’s and Dusky-tailed Antbirds, Ochre-breasted Foliage-gleaner, Drab-breasted Pygmy-Tyrant, Swallow-tailed Manakin, Riverbank Warbler, Chestnut-headed Tanager, and so many more.

On both days we’ll either have a picnic lunch in order to bird farther afield or have a late lunch back at our hotel, followed by an afternoon walk nearby for any birds we might be missing. Nights in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina.

Day 19: After some possible early birding near the hotel, the extension ends with transfers back to the Foz do Iguaçu airport (Brazil side) for flights home. 

2024 Narrative

IN BRIEF: Every day offered us wonderful experiences in Mato Grosso, too many to recount in a short summary, but topping the list for most participants were the many Hyacinth Macaws. A pair right outside our rooms at Aymara Lodge would have been fine, but the boisterous twenty or more that hung around our Porto Jofre hotel in the early mornings and late afternoons were a delight. The favorites with the second and third highest points also came from the Pantanal – Whistling Heron for its striking, unusual plumage (and one eating a snake was a treat to watch), while the pair of Black-capped Donacobius by the roadside entertained us with their duetting dance and intrigued us as we pondered their fascinating evolutionary trajectory. At Cristalino Lodge and its private natural heritage reserve, a rare Long-tailed Potoo that appeared on a favorite perch right at dusk was an extraordinary sight, and then looking back to the start of the tour at Chapada dos Guimarães, we didn’t forget that field full of pigeons and parrots, with those impressive Blue-and-yellow Macaws flying around us, then landing on the ground to feed only a few yards away. Then of course, the other aspects of natural history really rounded out our experience, from the monkeys and caimans at Cristalino, to the butterflies and armadillo at Chapada dos Guimarães, and to the Giant Otters and phenomenal seven Jaguars in the Pantanal. To top it off, it was a fun and congenial group, making our enjoyment of nature all that much better.

IN FULL: On our first day we were able to get an early start with all the participants arriving a day early, and it was a good thing, as our detour around the red-tape rock slide (as it should be known) took quite some time. Burrowing Owls were easy to see along the drive, and our first Chalk-browed Mockingbirds, Guira Cuckoos, and Peach-fronted Parakeets got things started for our list. We arrived in time for lunch and settling in, followed by a walk on the lodge grounds where Lettered Aracari and Planalto Slaty-Antshrike were highlights. At dinner, we noted that the Band-winged Nightjar that seems to spend the non-breeding season by the dining area had indeed returned.

Our second day saw us in the short, dense vegetation that grows on the red, sandy soil in the Cerrado biome, home to many specialties. The pair of duetting White-rumped Tanagers was fun to watch, and while successfully looking for Chapada Flycatchers we were lucky to stumble into four Coal-crested Finches, including a gorgeous male. We were also very lucky to coax out a responsive and gorgeous Collared Crescentchest, which this time of year can be very quiet. A fun surprise here was a Cinnamon Tanager, a bird more typical of the moister Atlantic Rainforest biome. As the sun grew higher, we retreated to a more forested area where butterflies abounded, and we spotted our only Yellow-tufted Woodpecker of the tour. In the late afternoon we visited the typically very quiet Veu de Noiva waterfalls, but Cliff Flycatchers were very active, and a very close but invisibly calling Bat Falcon soon became the world’s most photogenic pair of this handsome raptor. They were soon outdone by a splendid fly-by from a pair of Red-and-green Macaws below eye level in perfect light. As we were leaving the falls, we had a lovely sighting of a pair of Burnished-buff Tanagers and then discovered a blooming Inga tree full of hummingbirds. Among the seven species we saw there, the stunning male Amethyst Woodstar really stood out. A drive after dinner to look for nightlife on the lodge entrance road resulted in several Common Pauraques and a pair of very close Tropical Screech-Owls that took some patience to see well. As we were almost back to the lodge, a fantastic South American Tapir crossed the road and paused in our spotlights to drink at a cattle water tank.

With our second full day at Chapada dos Guimarães, we did our best to look for the elusive Blue Finch, in the process becoming better acquainted with Red-crested Finch and Peach-fronted Parakeet and seeing our only Campo Flickers of the tour. Highlights near the lodge included Little Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, and a Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin, but the day’s best birds were on our afternoon drive to the Aroe Jari caverns road. We flushed quite a few Yellowish Pipits out of the edge of the vast cotton fields before coming across our first Greater Rheas, always a strange sight. We then finally came across three Red-legged Seriemas, two of them perched up on a fence, while an angelic White-tailed Kite hunted over the fields. In the native scrub on the rocky slopes, we connected with a few more good birds, but none were as fancy as the spritely female Horned Sungem that perched at length for us. We returned to the open fields again just as the first Least Nighthawks emerged from their day roosts, some giving us very close fly-by views.

No travel day in the Neotropics is merely a travel day, and so our morning transfer back to Cuiabá via the long detour was no exception. The first surprise was a Bare-faced Curassow on the entrance road as we departed our lodge, a very rare bird in the area. Along the drive we were delighted by an unharvested soybean field that was a smorgasbord for hundreds of birds, mostly Red-shouldered, Red-and-green, and Blue-and-yellow Macaws but also the largest number of Picazuro Pigeons on the tour. A little later, early morning activity along the detour was hard to pass by, but we did have time to stop for the roadside Buff-necked Ibis and a group of Guira Cuckoos and Red-legged Seriemas right in the road, one of the latter engaging in a fight with a Southern Lapwing. We were soon on our way to Cristalino, first stopping on the road for a large group of Red-breasted Meadowlarks. We then took our time on the boat ride to the lodge, as the likes of Amazon Kingfisher, Swallow Tanager, and a group of Black-collared Swallows on the rocks near the lodge were demanding our attention.

On our itinerary for the first morning at Cristalino Lodge was Tower II, and even though it was before sunrise and very dark in the forest understory, we stopped to watch a family of Dark-winged Trumpeters right in the trail – these would end up our only ones for the tour. From the top of the tower, Pompadour and Spangled Cotingas performed well, we heard a distant Tapajos Antpitta, and an Amazonian Pygmy-Owl cam astonishingly close, all the while harassed by a Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin. We never had a close tanager flock or troop of aracaris, but we didn’t complain with closely perched Red-fan Parrots much of the morning. At the base of the tower, we had great views of and an outstanding performance from a Musician Wren, the first one at Cristalino in several years. The afternoon was taken up by the amazing experience of the forest bird baths, which has only become a thing in recent years.  As we sat in the blind only a few feet away, Snow-capped and White-crowned Manakins began the show, with another 14 species coming in over the next two hours. Other highlights were White-winged Shrike-Tanager, Bare-eyed Antbird, Black-spotted Bare-eye, and a few Dot-backed Antbirds, all birds one must struggle to see without such a setup. On the walk back to the boat, we came across a fearless Undulated Tinamou that allowed everyone to watch it walk down the trail.

An early morning troop of Red-necked Aracaris moving through the treetops by the lodge preceded our lovely boat ride upriver, with no hurry to get anywhere. We therefore had time to enjoy a stunning Capped Heron, spotted a Green-and-rufous Kingfisher, and saw an Amazonian Umbrellabird fly across the river. On the trail to and from a rocky outcropping we had some nice mixed flock activity which included White-browed Purpletuft and Rose-breasted Chat, while in the deciduous woods we had good looks at several hummingbirds, Paradise Jacamar, Short-billed Honeycreeper, and a scarce Slender-billed Xenops. We took another boat ride upriver in the afternoon, seeing a different set of birds, including three Sunbitterns, a surprisingly exposed Amazonian Streaked-Antwren nest suspended in the twigs of a partially submerged fallen tree, and, most amazingly, watched a trio of Undulated Tinamous walking in the forest understory and then saw two of them mating.

Our third morning at Cristalino saw us atop Tower I at sunrise, though we were first distracted by a Barred Forest-Falcon perched in the open right after breakfast. After enjoying the many kinds of parrots, macaws, swifts, and oropendolas from the highest platform, we descended to the middle platform where a mixed flock entertained us. Sclater’s Antwren paraded through at leisure, a Black-bellied Cuckoo came in close, and Black-faced Dacnises gave us repeated views. The star of the show must have been the female Black-bellied Thorntail that came in and perched for photos. We hit the trail for the rest of the morning, and it was just as productive, starting with a scarce Blue-cheeked Jacamar that perched at length. Away from mixed flocks were a very close Bar-breasted Piculet and a slightly more elusive but very impressive Red-necked Woodpecker, while an Ornate Stipplethroat was the best find in a larger and often frustrating mixed flock. Our afternoon walk on the Manakin Trail ended at the pond where we glimpsed the fancy Flame-crowned Manakin and saw Gray-chested Greenlet and Cinnamon Attila well.

Hummingbirds and tanagers were the stars of our hike up to the ancient granite dome of the Serra, with ten species of the former and thirteen of the latter. The Fiery-tailed Awlbill was the one that got away, but a displaying Amethyst Woodstar was fun to see. Purple Honeycreepers added color to the tanager flocks, and upon our descent into the forest understory below, we finally got looks at a Large-headed Flatbill in the bamboo. Boating to and from our trails was always delightful, especially since the beautiful White-winged Swallows were our constant companions. In the late afternoon we visited another bird bath set up by the local guides and boatmen, and the stars here were two male Band-tailed Manakins, a White-flanked Antwren, a pair of Xingu Scale-backed Antbirds, Black-spotted Bare-eye, and just as it was almost too dark to see, a very scarce South American Leaftosser. We lingered just a bit longer, as just down the trail was a regular perch of a Long-tailed Potoo, and this magical creature did not disappoint us.

We spent our last early morning at Cristalino on islands in the Teles Pires river, pausing en route to watch an enthralling yet also comical display of Capped Herons in a tree along the Cristalino River. At the first islet, Pied Plover, Spotted Tody-Flycatcher, Black-backed Water Tyrant, Red-capped Cardinal, and Rusty-backed Spinetail entertained us after we found the main target of Amazonian Tyrannulet with little effort. On the larger Arisoto island we found a pair of Chestnut-backed Antshrikes and had satisfying looks at a male Thick-billed Euphonia. The rest of the day was travel, flying back to Cuiabá and driving to our next lodging, though we had to drive by a lot of birds and wildlife to get there. Numerous Yacare Caiman, herons, storks, and stunning Roseate Spoonbills portended our sightings for the next days.

The Hyacinth Macaws were nowhere to be seen right at dawn when our birding began at Aymara Lodge, but the noisy Turquoise-fronted Parrots with a few Orange-winged Parrots mixed in kept things lively. When we returned for breakfast, the resident nesting pair of these thoroughly blue beauties were quietly preening right by the lodge. We spent the rest of the morning on trails on lodge property, finding Buff-breasted Wrens along the main road, while a small forested patch had an amazing Red-billed Scythebill, a stunning male Helmeted Manakin, and a pair of Flavescent Warblers foraging at length in plain sight. We headed for marshy country in the late afternoon, finding White-headed Marsh Tyrant, Grassland Sparrow, Chotoy Spinetail, and an Orange-backed Troupial to distract us from the Greater Rheas, ibises, herons, Snail Kites, and so many other birds.

We had a great pre-breakfast walk down the trail, with a super cooperative Red-billed Scythebill, a Pale-crested Woodpecker right over the trail, and a Lineated Woodpecker so unconcerned with our presence that it drummed just a few yards away. We then began our long drive south, the first part yielding a pair of Jabiru in a nest, a gorgeous Snail Kite right next to the road (manipulating a snail), and a lucky find of two Long-tailed Ground Doves. After lunch we made just a couple stops, one for the pair of dancing and duetting Black-capped Donacobius, and the other for Scarlet-headed Blackbirds that were right next to the road. A Whistling Heron, usually in drier fields at a distance, was in a ditch right next to the road, allowing us to see its bright pink and black bill offset by the pink face.

Our first morning’s boat ride on the Cuiabá River and its tributaries did not disappoint, with three jaguars (Ti, Ousado, and Margo), the latter two which we saw pooping, a first for a WINGS tour. We also saw a pair of Giant Otters scenting the riverbank vegetation, while bird highlights were a Wattled Jacana parent and juvenile foraging unconcerned just a foot or two from the boat, Rufescent Tiger-Herons, Pale-legged Horneros, and a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Lunchtime back at the hotel was a good time to watch the pairs and family groups of Hyacinth Macaws before we took an afternoon outing downriver. There we found a banded Black Skimmer, the same individual in exactly the same spot as last year’s tour; this 18-year-old bird presumably spends the non-breeding rainy season on the Argentinian coast. A handsome Pied Plover here also provided us our best views. In the Curixo Negrinho side channel, we spotted a Green-and-rufous Kingfisher and spent time watching a lone and very scarred Giant Otter munching on a fish and later making multiple dives to catch yet more. A loose flock of about 80 Snail Kites gathering for their communal roost was fun to see as we were nearly back to the hotel.

We got to see just one more jaguar on our second morning upriver (Kyyavera; she had a tummy ache and vomited some slime), but the birding was even better. Thanks to the thermal scope, a Great Potoo was revealed to be perching nearby. Up the Cuirixo Negro, an American Pygmy-Kingfisher perched at length near where we finally spied some Boat-billed Herons. Yellow-chinned Spinetails cavorted in the floating mats of vegetation where we followed up on a tip from another birding group and saw a Buff-bellied Hermit holding territory at a blooming clump of Psittacanthus mistletoe. We saw too many Cocoi Herons to remember them all, but one became a memorable encounter when we stopped to watch it manipulate its small fish, making sure it was dead with some violet stabs before swallowing it. We were back to the hotel early enough before lunch to do a bit of birding on the grounds, where at least four Subtropical Doraditos made an appearance in the overgrown vegetation where there used to be a lake with lily pads. A rumor of a pair of jaguars up the Piquiri River had us returning there in the early afternoon, and we caught up with the female named Pixana. Our photos of her lounging on a fallen tree trunk showed the second jaguar right behind her – he was Merlin – but we only noticed him when she decided to walk on through the forest, and we could see him saunter after her. We spied a group of scarce Harris’s Hawks here as well as fleeting views of our only Crane Hawk before we heard word of yet another Jaguar, our seventh up the Rio Tres Irmãos. There we caught up with Alira and her entourage of some 15 other boats, and we stayed with her for a kilometer or so as she patrolled the banks but did not find any prey.

On our last day of the main tour, which as mostly occupied by the longish drive back to Cuiabá, we first birded the grounds of our hotel to get some last views of the Hyacinth Macaws, which we estimated to be 20 individuals. In the woods just north of town we added several good birds, including Fawn-breasted Wren, Violaceous Euphonia, Streaked Flycatcher, and a rare Red-legged Honeycreeper. We then spent the rest of our birding time in the Campos do Jofre, an area of open fields and marsh, surprisingly dry this year after what had apparently been a late and lackluster rainy season. Blue-and-yellow Macaws flying by offered a stark contrast to the hordes of whistling-ducks, Southern Screamers, and other water birds. Pied Plovers walked around on the mud edges near where a family of Wattled Jacanas with very young hatchlings vied for our attention. At lunch in Pixaim, we lucked into a group of Nanday Parakeets in the trees right outside the restaurant, only the second time we’ve seen this species on this itinerary, the last time being 12 years ago. A fun last-minute addition was a stunning White-rumped Monjita perched on termite mounds before we headed back to Cuiabá and enjoyed a festive farewell dinner.

IGUAZÚ EXTENSION: Our series of three flights to Foz do Iguaçu were more eventful that we would have preferred, but we did arrive on time, were met by Quillén, and were merrily escorted out of Brazil and into Argentina with aplomb. We had time in the late afternoon for one easy walk down the road from our hotel, where Eared Pygmy-Tyrant and Magpie Tanager were early targets. We made it as far as a small lake where our only Short-tailed Hawk of the tour soared overhead, while both Pied-billed and Least Grebes were on the water and a Blackish Rail called from the flooded grassy area out of reach. On the way back we heard a distant Collared Forest-Falcon, while two handsome Buff-bellied Puffbird perched overhead, a scarce bird we haven’t seen in several years.

Thanks to recent dry weather, we got to spend an entire day on the 101 road that traverses miles of excellent habitat through Iguazú National Park. A good sign of the habitat quality was a striking male Bertoni’s Antbird at one of our early stops. Mixed flocks offered up some fine plumages in the form of Guira Tanager and Fawn-breasted Tanager, while Toco Toucans never fail to impress. A lone Rufous-crowned Greenlet was a brief encounter here, but the rest of us would catch up with that one later. We returned to a different area of the road in the afternoon, with Chestnut-headed Tanager and Sibilant Sirystes being our more memorable finds. We stayed until dark, getting views of a Silky-tailed Nightjar and hearing Mottled Owl.

Continuing dry weather allowed us to return to the 101 road, driving even farther into the forest. Spot-backed Antshrike finally fell off the heard-only list into our seen category, while the trogon family also became more visible – Atlantic Black-throated and Surucua Trogons were finally seen. A White-shouldered Fire-eye was seen fairly well, and a bit of playback confirmed the ID of a wee thing up in the trees as a scarce Rough-legged Tyrannulet. The rarest find of the morning was perhaps also the dullest bird, a Sooty Grassquit that fed on bits of bamboo shoots. We then spent the rest of the day in the more touristy waterfall area of the national park, and the falls were indeed gripping. There were still some sightings of wildlife, such as the many coatis and monkeys, wonderful butterflies, a Broad-snouted Caiman, and stupidly tame and beautiful Plush-crested Jays and a Toco Toucan.

On our final full day of the tour, we departed early to arrive at Urugua-í Provincial Park at dawn. This is one’s best chance to spot the globally endangered Black-fronted Piping-Guan, and we were lucky to have four hanging out in the trees by the bridge. From the same location we watched a Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper creep along the stream for several minutes. A Blond-crested Woodpecker showed nicely around the construction zone before we retreated down a forest trail. In there we reveled in the ethereal song of White-browed Warblers before we finally saw them and added memorable sightings of Drab-breasted Pygmy-Tyrant and Swallow-tailed Manakin. A stunning Red-breasted Toucan found a perch that we could just see through a gap in the trees, and we watched this colorful Atlantic Rainforest specialty in the spotting scope. The afternoon’s birding included an easy stop for Araucaria Tit-Spinetail in the trees after which the bird is named, followed by a frenetic sit at the Jardín de Picaflores back in town, where a handful of Black Jacobins and one Planalto Hermit amongst the likely more than 100 other individual hummingbirds attracted our attention.

It wasn’t quite over with one last morning of birding possible for those of us with evening flights home. Just a short walk down the road from our hotel we spied a Collared Forest-Falcon, added a pair of Planalto Woodcreepers, had glimpses of a Southern Antpipit, and with the aid of Quillén’s sharp eyes got on one of the Rufous-capped Motmots we had heard calling. We wrapped the tour with about 460 species of birds on the main tour, and another 90 added on the extension.

-Rich Hoyer

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