Brazil; Northeast Trip -- Day 3

  Today was quite an exciting day in prospect, as we had arranged through some of our Brazilian birding contacts and a local fisherman to visit a small population of Grey-breasted Parakeet, an endangered species otherwise only known from a population in Ceara state. This new population was only discovered a few years ago but provides new hope for the species. To access the birds you need the help of the local fisherman, Nego, since they live deep in the mangrove forests and are only accessible by boat.

  We arrived at the docks early morning, where the ample muddy shoreline present was providing food to good numbers of waders. Grey Plover and Hudsonian Whimbrel were both new species for my Brazil list, and it was a lot of fun to watch the Turnstones and Spotted Sandpipers feeding as well, as it always is. But perhaps the highlight was the good numbers of Willet in the area, which is a new species for me. Sadly, despite finding possibly as many as ten during the morning, we never saw the bird fly, so couldn’t see the distinctive wing pattern. Also around the docks area was a Mangrove Rail, our first mangrove specialty species that we had also hoped to find here.

  The birding in the mangroves was excellent. There were good numbers of herons, including more Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, and more commoner waders. We had fantastic views of at least three Rufous Crab-Hawk and we were treated to a brief view of Little Wood Rail, another mangrove specialist that we had been targeting. The Grey-breasted Parakeets we eventually found in a more open area where they were feeding on Cecropia fruits. We often heard them but seeing them initially proved to be quite a challenge, not helped by the sun already being quite hot. We did get some excellent views of birds feeding in the shade, and in the end, probably spent about half an hour watching them.

  We had wrapped up our mangrove birding by mid-morning so made tracks to head north and try again for the Pectoral Antwren that we had missed on our way down. After nearly two hours it was looking like another blank when Lia heard the bird softly calling near the path, and with a bit of effort, we finally managed to spot the birds as they sang from within the bushes. Sadly Lia’s views were not as good as mine, so we decided to stick around and try again for them in the morning when hopefully they would be more active. 

-Willet

-Mangrove Rail

-Hudsonian Whimbrel

-Yellow-crowned Night Heron

-Grey-breasted Parakeet

-Rufous Crab Hawk

-Nymphidium mantus

-Pectoral Antwren

Species List:
Barra do Siribinha: Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Scaled Dove, White-tipped Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Mangrove Rail, Little Wood Rail, Grey Plover, Southern Lapwing, Collared Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Hudsonian Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstone, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Western Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Snail Kite, Rufous Crab Hawk, Roadside Hawk, Amazon Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Caatinga Puffbird, Lineated Woodpecker, Campo Flicker, Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Grey-breasted Parakeet, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Golden-capped Parakeet, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Rufous Hornero, Caatinga Cacholote, Cattle Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, House Sparrow, Red-rumped Cacique, Variable Oriole, Campo Troupial, Sayaca Tanager, Palm Tanager, Bicolored Conebill,
Santo Amaro das Brotas--Estrada das Antenas: Scaled Pigeon, White-tipped Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Crested Caracara, Orange-winged Amazon, Cobalt-rumped Parrotlet, Planalto Slaty Antshrike, Pectoral Antwren, Blue-backed Manakin, White-bearded Manakin, Ochre-lored Flatbill, Short-crested Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Chivi Vireo, Tropical Gnatcatcher, Moustached Wren, Pale-breasted Thrush, Violaceous Euphonia, Pectoral Sparrow, Hooded Tanager, Palm Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Blue-black Grassquit, Bananaquit,