Our destination
for the day was the Parque Ecológico do Tietê, an urban park not so far from
the airport. On paper it seemed to be the best area to go birding within the
city limit of Sao Paulo, and it was one of the few places where there was an accessible,
easy lifer available for myself; Red-crested Cardinal. The park is comprised of
a network of lakes with wooded margins. We were excited as to what species we
might be able to find there.
The lakes themselves were very nice, but without margins they were of little use to waders or crakes. There were good numbers of Anhingas and a couple of Neotropic Cormorant, but otherwise it was fairly quiet. There were a few restaurants along the edge of the lake, closed due to the pandemic, but it was here that we found the cardinals. We actually found both species here; Red-cowled and Red-crested. Red-cowled is the common species in the North-East of Brazil and so we were very familiar with it, the other (the lifer for myself) is very common in the south and Argentina, which is why we had not encountered it before. This park is the only place in Sao Paulo where it can be regularly encountered, although it is possible that this population could have arisen as a consequence of escaped cagebirds. We found an adult and a juvenile together feeding around the picnic benches.
There were some other nice birds in the park as well, although most of them were common species. Crested Becard was the best of the rest, but species such as Chestnut-vented Conebill and Black-bellied Whistling Duck were also nice to find. A couple of South American Coati were loitering around the park litter bins. I do not see this mammal species so often, so it was a nice surprise to encounter them here.
The lakes themselves were very nice, but without margins they were of little use to waders or crakes. There were good numbers of Anhingas and a couple of Neotropic Cormorant, but otherwise it was fairly quiet. There were a few restaurants along the edge of the lake, closed due to the pandemic, but it was here that we found the cardinals. We actually found both species here; Red-cowled and Red-crested. Red-cowled is the common species in the North-East of Brazil and so we were very familiar with it, the other (the lifer for myself) is very common in the south and Argentina, which is why we had not encountered it before. This park is the only place in Sao Paulo where it can be regularly encountered, although it is possible that this population could have arisen as a consequence of escaped cagebirds. We found an adult and a juvenile together feeding around the picnic benches.
There were some other nice birds in the park as well, although most of them were common species. Crested Becard was the best of the rest, but species such as Chestnut-vented Conebill and Black-bellied Whistling Duck were also nice to find. A couple of South American Coati were loitering around the park litter bins. I do not see this mammal species so often, so it was a nice surprise to encounter them here.
-South American Coati
-Red-crested Cardinal
-Anhinga
Species
List:
Parque Ecológico do Tietê: Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Brazilian Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Common Gallinule, Southern Lapwing, Anhinga, Neotropic Cormorant, Cocoi Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Striated Heron, Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Green Kingfisher, Southern Crested Caracara, Aplomado Falcon, Plain Parakeet, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Rufous Hornero, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Crested Becard, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, White-crested Tyrannulet, Masked Water Tyrant, Cattle Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Blue-and-white Swallow, House Wren, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, House Sparrow, Chestnut-capped Blackbird, Red-crested Cardinal, Red-cowled Cardinal, Sayaca Tanager, Chestnut-vented Conebill, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Bananaquit, Capybara, South American Coati, Argentine Black-and-white Tegu,
Parque Ecológico do Tietê: Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Brazilian Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Picazuro Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Common Gallinule, Southern Lapwing, Anhinga, Neotropic Cormorant, Cocoi Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Striated Heron, Black Vulture, Roadside Hawk, Green Kingfisher, Southern Crested Caracara, Aplomado Falcon, Plain Parakeet, Blue-winged Parrotlet, Rufous Hornero, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Crested Becard, Southern Beardless Tyrannulet, White-crested Tyrannulet, Masked Water Tyrant, Cattle Tyrant, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Blue-and-white Swallow, House Wren, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, House Sparrow, Chestnut-capped Blackbird, Red-crested Cardinal, Red-cowled Cardinal, Sayaca Tanager, Chestnut-vented Conebill, Saffron Finch, Blue-black Grassquit, Bananaquit, Capybara, South American Coati, Argentine Black-and-white Tegu,
That Red-crested Cardinal is a stunning bird - well, like most other Brazilian birds. Those Coatis look quite big - are they Omnivores ?
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