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

Haley´s Adventures

http://www.craigmorecreations.com

Take a look at this very interesting and beautiful comic from Craigmore Creations. It´s about Haley Zoic´s travels, a natural history corespondent, as she explores the lives and struggles of endangered species. In this episode, she visited Fazenda Barranco Alto and learned a lot about the hyacinth macaws, the trees they nest in and the toco toucan. Click on the image to read the comic it´s really worth !


This is a very interesting time of the year, when the water level of the Negro river is at its lowest. Recently we watched a school of tetra fish (Astyanax sp., lambari) trapped by a big group of caimans at the confluence of a bay with the river. Caimans were all around the shallowest bits of water and the fish would perform aerobatic jumps to escape the predators ... 

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...

Sunbittern displaying its amazing wing-pattern.

A female sungrebe hiding under branches.

Nosey bat

The proboscis bat (Rhynchonycteris naso) has this name from the elongated nose, which somehow looks in shape like a tapir´s nose... They are nocturnal insect feeders and are always associated with water. Therefor they are more commonly found along the river, where you can see them under tree trunks. We have observed river otters predating on them.




Note the long and pointy nose!


The Swamp Hen

The american purple gallinule (Porphyrio martinica, frango-d'água-azul) is a common bird of the rail family in our marshes. It´s rather skittish, thus not very easy to approach close enough for a good picture.
They are omnivorous and walk over floating vegetation as if they were on firm ground. No surprise if you look at their huge yellow feet !
Note all the purple-blue tonalities of their plumage...

Pecking Order

The ringed kingfishers  (Megaceryle torquata, martim-pescador-grande) are outstanding in their ability to fish. From a suitable perch they wait patiently until prey swims by. This female was lucky enough to hunt a knifefish (Gymnotus sp., tuvira) probably about half her body weight !


But a few seconds later an attentive roadside hawk (Buteo magnirostris, gavião-carijó), that was watching everything with even more patience, hit the kingfisher in flight and caught the prey from the fisher: pecking order ...


King of the Bush

As always we would like to remember that seeing a cat is a rare moment and should not be expected ... 
This young male and an associated female were seen literally just around the corner in Fazenda Barranco Alto´s "RPPN das Onças" (a private reserve). It´s a young male in stunning shape. The mysteriously dark background is typical of the Rio Negro, one of the Pantanal´s most pristine rivers.

Young male jaguar.

Another praise to the Giant Otters

This is one of our favorite posts of the recent past and since these creatures irresistibly draw our attention and interest every single day, we'd simply like to repeat the post of last year:


The giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis, Ariranha) are amongst the most fascinating animals of the Pantanal. They form family groups of up to 12 individuals with a dominant male and female which stay together lifelong. They show a wide variety of behavior patterns according to their very cooperative and social existence. Research being conducted here in the Rio Negro by Leuchtenberger et al. suggests that giant otters use up to a dozen different vocalizations!
Over the last two months on Fazenda Barranco Alto we have been able to observe the family of "Perereca" doing their best to raise 3 babies. Spending many hours daily watching them we have been lucky to see the most beautiful scenes such as teaching the newborn to swim and fish, grooming and resting together.

Mother giant otter bringing one baby at a time down to the water.
All giant otters come to groom the little one ...
After parental caring comes feeding!
Ending up with a well-deserved siesta !

Howling family

The black howler monkeys are the only resident monkeys in this area of the Pantanal. O occasionally Capuchin monkeys may roam this far (see the 2007 post).
These large monkeys are seen mostly either resting or eating leaves in the high canopy. Their presence is often given away by their very loud vocalization (click to hear !)

Dominant male.

Female with baby on the back.

Tiger heron

If you go around and watch carefully, you´ll notice that many species of birds fish. Each one has a different technique. The rufescent tiger-heron (Tigrisoma lineatum, socó-boi) has a standing-still way of fishing. Sometimes they wait for several dozens of minutes without any apparent movement until a suitable fish is in reach and then they precisely and deadly spear it.
Because of their mooing calls, we call them socó-boi (cow-heron) in Portuguese. 

A successful early morning hunt ...
 
 
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