4 Birding Tours in the Mato Grosso

Toco Toucan Host: Braulio Carlos

When: Anytime

Languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, and French

Length: Depends on the visitor's interests.

Number of guests: one or more

Fee: This depends on the kind of tour developed but an average fee is about US $180 per day per person (when a couple). Note that a trip involving one night in the field will be considered two days. Tours are all-inclusive: lodging, meals, ground transportation, outings, entrance fees, naturalist guide, fauna checklist. Items not included are air tickets to Cuiaba, any kind of beverages, personal extras such as phone calls, laundry, etc.

THE IDEA:
From the vast marshes of the Pantanal to the scenic and spectacular cerrado country of the Chapada dos Guimarães, to the amazingly rich Amazonian rainforest at Alta Floresta, in Mato Grosso you can find what you are looking for in Brazil. You are invited to use he following program descriptions to propose a visit that will make the best use of your time and take advantage of our local knowledge and experience.

White-winged Nightjar

THE PANTANAL &
CHAPADA DOS GUIMARÃES
NATIONAL PARK TOUR

Helmited Manakin The Pantanal of Mato Grosso is a vast grassy lowland at the heart of South America. It is home to the greatest concentration of wildlife on the continent and is the world's largest freshwater wetland. The numbers of birds, especially in the dry season (July-November) has to be seen to be believed. Specialties include Jabiru, Plumbeous Ibis, Southern Screamer, Hyacinth Macaw, Long-tailed Ground-Dove, Pygmy Kingfisher, Mato Grosso Antbird, White-lored Spinetail and Helmeted Manakin. Rare mammals include Giant Anteater, Marsh Deer, Giant Otter and even Jaguars. Chapada dos Guimarães National Park lies at the western edge of the Brazilian central plateau, surrounded by Cerrado vegetation with some gallery forest that support a number of species not found in the Pantanal such as Blue-winged Macaw, White-collared & Biscutate Swift, Cinnamon-throated Hermit, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Rufous-winged Antshrike, Crested Tyrant, White-rumped Tanager, White-banded Tanager, Blue Finch, Plumbeous Seedeater and the recently described Chapada Flycatcher among others.

THE ALTA FLORESTA &
CRISTALINO RESERVE TOUR

Bare-faced Currasows North of Mato Grosso State in southern Amazonia lies the region of Alta Floresta, an example of pristine Terra Firme forest. Cristalino Reserve is one of the best birding spots of Brazil and South America. The geographic location at the headwaters of the Tapajós river contributes greatly to its ornithological importance because the river separates different populations of many forest birds. There are few places, even in the deepest recesses of Amazonia, where one can experience such undisturbed wilderness. The built of a tower allows spectacular views of canopy species. This is the only tower in southern Brazilian Amazonia. Specialties in the area include Brazilian Tinamou, White-browed Hawk, Dark-winged Trumpeter, Red-throated Piping-Guan, Razor-billed Curassow, Amazonian Pygmy-Owl, Kawall's Amazon, Crimsom-bellied Parakeet, Blue-cheeked Jacamar, Rufous-necked Puffbird, Black-girdlet Barbet, Red-necked Aracari, Gould's Toucanet, Pavonine Quetzal, Long-billed Woodcreeper, Peruvian Recurvebill, Chesnut-throated Spinetail, Glossy Antshrike, Manu Antbird, Sclater's Antwren, Bare-eyed Antbird, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Spangled Cotinga, Bare-necked Fruitcrow, Snow-capped Manakin, Musician & Tooth-billed Wren, Paradise & Green-and-Gold Tanagers and many more.

THE HARPY EAGLE TOUR

Just 120 km from Cuiabá, in the Serra das Araras region, a Harpy Eagle (Harpya harpyja) nest has been discovered. This magnificent eagle is one of the world's most impressive raptors and sadly is threatened in all the regions where it occurs. The Serra das Araras is a narrow peninsula of Amazonian forest following the southern edge of the mountain range which gives it its name. It is an ecotone between the cerrado (savanna-like) vegetation and the southern Brazilian Amazonia. This makes its avifauna be a real treat. Other birdlife in the area include the rare Brazilian endemic Blue-eyed Ground-Dove, Gray, Small-billed, & Tataupa Tinamous, King Vulture, Gray & Bicolored Hawks, Scaled Pigeon, Dusky-headed Parakeet, Least Nighthawk, Scissor-tailed Nightjar, Lettered Aracari, Red-necked Woodpecker, White-necked, Striolated & Spot-backed Puffbirds, Rufous-capped Nunlet, Lineated Woodcreeper, Black-throated Antbird, White-flanked Antwren, White-eyed Attila, Snethlage's Tody-Tyrant, Sharpbill, Band-tailed Manakin, Turquoise & White-shouldered Tanagers.

THE EMAS NATIONAL PARK
BIRDING AND PHOTOGRAPHING TOUR

This large (130,000-ha) but somewhat remote National Park lies roughly halfway between Brasília and Cuiabá and protects some of Brazil's best remaining campos limpos (grasslands of cerrado), as well as gallery forest. Rarities such as Crowned Eagle, White-winged Nightjar, Bearded Tachuri, Cinereous Warbling-Finch and Marsh Seedeater share the area with Greater Rhea, Red-legged Seriema, Spotted & Lesser Nothura, Dwarf Tinamou, Blue-and-yellow Macaw, Yellow-faced Amazon, Campo Miner, Planalto Foliage-gleaner, Collared Crescent-chest, Sharp-tailed Tyrant, Cock-tailed and Streamer-tailed Tyrants, White-striped Warbler, Black-masked Finch, Chesnut Seedeater as well as what is probably the best variety of large mammals in South America: Giant Anteater, Puma, Pampas & Marsh Deers, Capybara, Giant & Six-banded Armadillos, Maned Wolf, Brazilian Tapir, Hoary Fox and many more. Indeed, the rolling tree-dotted savanna grasslands are somewhat reminescent of Africa.

APPENDIX:

Appendix 1: Birding checklist for Matto Grosso

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