The Pousada Rio Azul allows the birder access to a number of important Amazonian habitats via good trails, old logging roads, farm roads, and along the Rio Azul itself. The diversity of accessible habitats is the key to high species diversity for birdwatchers, along with an abundance of natural and anthropogenic clearings providing good sightlines for viewing many normally difficult-to-observe species.
I have broken down the birding at the Pousada Rio Azul by
habitat, listing key species which have been found or should be expected in any
given area.
Arriving to the lodge – the birds:
The trip by road from Alta Floresta travels through mostly degraded habitat
which has been logged and cleared for cattle ranching. An interesting stop can
be made at a Mauritia palm swamp some 15-20 km from town, where Red-bellied Macaw, Fork-tailed Palm-Swift, Point-tailed
Palmcreeper and Sulphury Flycatcher
are all resident. After one crosses the Rio Teles Pires by ferry barge, the
road passes through several forested areas where we found interesting mixed
flocks during the heat of the day. There are also a few ponds which yield
commoner water birds. Any of these ponds should be checked for Ash-throated, Rufous-sided and Gray-breasted
Crake in their grassy edges. Parrots,
Pearl Kite, and other raptors should
be looked for along the road.
The road from the ‘Fazenda Rio Azul’ gate to the lodge
clearing can be a productive area. The pasture land around the gates holds many
common open country species such as Striped
Cuckoo, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Grassland Sparrow, Lined Seedeater, Red-breasted Blackbird, a recent colonist species in the north of
Mato Grosso and southern Pará.
Upon arrival at the "Fazenda Rio Azul", the birder encounters the
first habitat of real interest: a small campina or caatinga-type scrub forest,
stunted vegetation on white sand soil of canopy height to 4-8 m with many
terrestrial bromeliads and other creeping groundcover. This micro-habitat is
located on the entrance track no more than a kilometre from the lodge. The
avifauna hosts a number of species typical of Amazonian caatingas including Natterer’s Slaty-Antshrike, White-fringed Antwren, Lesser Elaenia, Pale-bellied Mourner, Black
Manakin, White-naped Xenopsaris,
Black-billed Thrush, Black-faced Tanager and Plush-crested Jay. This habitat, locally
called cerrado, undergoes incredible
changes between the dry and wet seasons. Hummingbirds easily seen at the
numerous flowers here in the wet season include Green-tailed Goldenthroat, Black-throated
Mango, and Amethyst Woodstar.
A good trail through tall transitional forest loops from the lodge clearing to
the riverbank and returns to the lodge. This is good for woodcreepers including
Spix’s, Red-billed and Black-banded,
many manakins, and several species of Myrmotherula antwrens. Pavonine Quetzal, Yellow-browed Antbird and Musician
Wren are amongst the interesting species easily found near the lodge. Blackish Nightjar is common in the
clearing itself, and a possible new
species of Phaethornis hermit, White-necked Jacobin, Black-bellied Thorntail, Fork-tailed Woodnymph, Green-tailed Goldenthroat, Black-eared Fairy and Amethyst Woodstar have all been seen at
flowers near the cabins and restaurant.
An old track once used to take boats upstream around a set of rapids is now
closed off thanks to treefalls, but makes for an excellent birding trail.
Transitional and igapó forest along this track is good for Brown-banded and Rufous-necked Puffbird, Snow-capped
and Flame-crested Manakins, Fulvous-crested Tanager, and Amazonian Royal Flycatcher. Tooth-billed Wren, Guianan Gnatcatcher, and Short-billed
Honeycreepers feature highly in canopy flocks. Chestnut-belted (Snethlage’s) Gnateater is abundant in lower growth.
Army ant swarms attract a number of obligate ant-followers including White-chinned Woodcreeper, Scale-backed Antbird, White-backed Fire-eye, Black-spotted Bare-eye and Bare-eyed Antbird. Our local guides have
even seen a Neomorphus ground-cuckoo
once in this area following White-lipped Peccaries.
The river:
The Rio Azul itself also provides good birding. The Bald Parrot, Gypopsitta
aurantiocephala, was formally described based on fieldwork in this region
of southern Pará, and birders must pay attention for the sharp cry of this
coveted and enigmatic species. The parrots are fairly common at the Pousada Rio
Azul, and can often be seen or heard from the river as they scuttle just above
the treetops in pairs or small groups. The birds tend not to be too wary when
perched, and with persistence can be tracked down as they feed quietly in the
canopy of flowering or fruiting trees. The Rio Azul is currently the most
accessible reliable site in the world for this coveted and bizarre endemic.
The river is also the best place to see another of our
stars, the fiery Crimson Topaz. Our
birding and local guides have staked out the best sections of the river to see
this species at one of its few known localities south of the
Downstream from the lodge the Rio Azul winds through a
number of habitats: low "cerrado" forest on poor sandy soils,
taller igapó, tiny oxbows, mixed Mauritia palm groves, and back
to taller forest. Riverine species found at the edges include Hoatzin, Speckled Chachalaca, Painted
(
Bamboo and tall forest:
The presence of large intact stands of Guadua bamboo along the Rio Azul
is a major attraction. The owners have made access arrangements with a neighbouring
fazenda to allow us to take birders along old logging roads passing through
both pure tracts of bamboo and patches of bamboo mixed with logged forest. A
couple of short trails have been cut into some of the larger areas for birders
to see bamboo specialists such as Chestnut-throated
Spinetail, Chestnut-crowned and Dusky-cheeked Foliage-gleaners, Striated Antbird (the local race may potentially be split and named Xingu Antbird) and Manu Antbird, Dot-winged
("Emilia´s") Antwren, and Large-headed
and Dusky-tailed Flatbill. I see no reason why scarcer
species such as the undescribed Cabanis’-type Synallaxis spinetail, Peruvian Recurvebill, and Black-and-white
Tody-Flycatcher could not also occur.
While the habitat itself is not as pretty as other Amazonian
lodges deep within pristine forest, the network of old narrow tracks provides
excellent birding opportunities. Further disturbance in this area is unlikely
due to the creation of a state sport-fishing reserve mandating protection of
the river’s margins. The Pousada Rio Azul is discussing incentives with the
neighbouring cattle ranches to preserve these good birding areas by preventing
unauthorized access, and to encourage a limited amount of maintenance to keep a
few of the tracks from overgrowing completely.
The unknown
This 130
000 hectare national park has long been recognized as one of the best cerrado
reserves in the country, as well as for being a premier location for mammal
watching. There has been renewed interest in Emas amongst birders since the
rediscovery of the Cone-billed Tanager Conothraupis mesoleuca by Braulio
Carlos and Dante Buzzetti. Aside from the tanager, Emas is the best location in
Brazil for White-winged Nightjar; all of the cerrado specialties occur.
Ocellated
Crake occurs in the campo úmido (damp cerrado grassland) to the
left of the Mirante do Avoador. However, it tends to stay hidden as it moves
about in natural tunnels between the grasses and can be very difficult to see.