A red-and-green macaw (Ara chloropterus, arara-vermelha) feeding on acuri nuts (Attalea phalerata, acuri). These birds can be easily watched on Fazenda Barranco Alto.
Red-and-green macaw
Little shy beauty
The striated heron (Butorides striata, socózinho) is a common heron found on many continents in warmer wetlands. Sometimes you see them baiting little fishes with a leave or any other floating debris.
They're easy to spot but difficult to approach due to their shyness.
Caracara
Caracaras (Caracara plancus, caracará) are spectacular raptors from the falconidae family. They are a common sighting around the ranch, where they opportunistically feed on a huge variety of things.
Potoo
The night active common potoo (Nyctibius griseus, mãe-da-lua) has a special disruptive feather coloration so it camouflages into a branch, as shown on the picture below. In this photo it has a chick.
The potoo's call at night is also quite unique and mysterious, listen to it here: song
Rheas
This is the way rheas (Rhea americana, ema) drink water !
Cliffs ?!
We're very excited to add the cliff flycatcher (Hirundinea ferruginea, gibão-de-couro) to our list (http://taxeus.com.br/impressaolista/192). It's bird species number 401 ! The flycatcher was first sighted by William de Jong, a dutch biologist.
The only question is; where are the cliffs ?!
And by the way, Birdlife International has considered this area one of the Important Bird Areas (IBA BR156) of the World.
Drumming on trees
This is one of the most amazing bird families in the Pantanal: the woodpeckers. The lineated woodpeckers (Dryocopus lineatus, Pica-pau-de-banda-branca) have strong bills for drilling and drumming on trees and long sticky tongues with bristles for extracting insects deep out of the wood. Listen to the drumming: MP3 by J.Minns
female
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| male |
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female
Pheasant cuckoo
This is a picture taken by our guest Mike Bailey of a pheasant cuckoo (Dromococcyx phasianellus, peixe-frito-verdadeiro, song). This is one of the most elusive birds around here. They are daily heard but never seen, a good view like this is something very rare.
Pheasant cuckoos are brood parasites, that means the parental care of eggs and young is provided by the host species like flycatchers and antshrikes.
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the right glimpse ...
The roadside hawk (Buteo magnirostris, gavião-carijó) is the second most common raptor in this region after the crested-caracara. This is a shot in the exact split-second before it lands ...
The uncommon crane hawk (Geranospiza caerulescens, gavião-pernilongo) is a fascinating raptor, grey in color with very long orange legs, used to reach into crevices and cavities of trees to obtain snakes, lizzards, nestling birds, bats, and other food items.
This region of the Pantanal (Rio Negro) is one of the richest in parrot abundance. Flocks of these birds are everywhere and the gregarious macaws catch everyone´s attention. In this picture we see a mixed flock of red-and-green and hyacinth macaws that are together feeding on the dry acuri nuts (Attalea phalerata) found in ungulate´s droppings. Altogether there were 24 birds...
Toucans in their nests agree
After you´ve read the last post about Haley´s adventures in the Pantanal you might wonder how a toco toucan looks in reality... well, it´s even more colorful than any comic can be !
In this photo the toucan is not predating on another bird´s nest, but guarding its own nest.
In the 1940´s an advertisement from irish Guiness beer ran with the following jingle: "Toucans in their nests agree/Guinness is good for you/Try some today and see/What one or toucan do." See a more recent Guiness toucan TV ad here: http://youtu.be/QXzIMP_wxQ0?hd=1
Sunbirds !
We´d like to share with you two very shy birds we sighted these days on the Rio Negro: the sunbittern (Eurypyga helias, pavãozinho-do-pará) and the sungrebe (Heliornis fulica, picaparra). Despite their names, both are not closer related but they share the same colors and a remarkable and exquisite beauty...
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| Sunbittern displaying its amazing wing-pattern. |
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| A female sungrebe hiding under branches. |
A magnificent bird !
