Brazil; Boa Nova

  We had been waiting in Maceio for news of potential consultancy work in Fortaleza, but as no news reached us, and it began to look like the work was not going to go ahead, we decided to just continue with our travels and deal with the work if it ever happened.
  We were not leaving the northeast, however. We took the coach from Maceio to Salvador and then hired a car there to travel through the south of Bahia state to mop up on species and sites that we had not visited the last time we were in this area in 2019.
  Our first stop was the very nice Boa Nova national park, which we visited in 2019 but missed a few species that we hoped to mop up on here. Really there was only one species we wanted in the park itself, the Rio de Janeiro Antbird. Previous I have heard this bird twice, and seen frustratingly briefly, but its restricted range make it a key target here. We took a walk on what we called ‘the Magic Road’ and easily found the Antbird, with a male showing very nicely. There were other nice birds as well, including a showy pair of Striated Softail, and a smart male Tufted Antshrike.
  In the afternoon, after lunch, we visited an open area of Caatinga which was supposed to be good for hummingbirds. The only species we found was Glittering-bellied Emerald, but we still had a pleasant afternoon with a White-bellied Nothura running across the road in front of us, and a single Pygmy Nightjar roosting on an open rock surface. Although there were only a few species for us to target today, we still had a very enjoyable days birding.

-Yellow Tyrannulet

-Striated Softtail

-Tufted Antshrike

-Rio de Janeiro Antbird

-Wied's Black-tufted-ear Marmoset

-Pygmy Nightjar

Species List:
Boa Nova: Red-winged Tinamou, White-bellied Nothura, Plumbeous Pigeon, Ruddy Ground Dove, Scaled Dove, Smooth-billed Ani, Squirrel Cuckoo, Pygmy Nightjar, Ruby-topaz Hummingbird, Glittering-bellied Emerald, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Sapphire-spangled Emerald, Uniform Crake, Black Vulture, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Crane Hawk, Roadside Hawk, American Barn Owl, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Golden-spangled Piculet, Spotted Piculet, Yellow-throated Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, Yellow-headed Caracara, Laughing Falcon, Tufted Antshrike, Great Antshrike, Variable Antshrike, Spot-breasted Antvireo, Stripe-backed Antbird, Ferruginous Antbird, Rio de Janeiro Antbird, White-shouldered Fire-eye, Band-tailed Hornero, White-collared Foliage-gleaner, Rufous-fronted Thornbird, Striated Softtail, Pallid Spinetail, Caatinga Cacholote, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Bahia Spinetail, Spix's Spinetail, Pin-tailed Manakin, White-bearded Manakin, Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher, Ochre-lored Flatbill, Yellow Tyrannulet, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Euler's Flycatcher, Tropical Pewee, Masked Water Tyrant, Long-tailed Tyrant, Greyish Mourner, Short-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Tropical Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Long-billed Wren, Pale-breasted Thrush, Rufous-bellied Thrush, Purple-throated Euphonia, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Red-rumped Cacique, Campo Troupial, Pale Baywing, Southern Yellowthroat, Golden-crowned Warbler, Red-crowned Ant Tanager, Yellow-green Grosbeak, Red-cowled Cardinal, Cinnamon Tanager, Flame-crested Tanager, Sayaca Tanager, Palm Tanager, Burnished-buff Tanager, Gilt-edged Tanager, Blue Dacnis, Rufous-headed Tanager, Saffron Finch, White-bellied Seedeater, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, White-throated Seedeater, Grey Pileated Finch, Bananaquit, Sooty Grassquit,