Birding in Mato Grosso and Brazil

Birdfinding information and guided tours in Amazonia and beyond

Travel Tips for birding in Brazil

Domestic Air
Most birding trips in Brazil of any length will probably require a domestic flight or two. The vast majority of international flights arrive at the international airport in Guarulhos outside of São Paulo. This is the larger of two big airports in São Paulo, the other being Congonhas, a downtown airport used exclusively for domestic connections. Try, if you possibly can, to connect your international and domestic flights through Guarulhos. São Paulo is a megalopolis which is becoming infamous for its terrible traffic congestion, and very little else throws travel plans awry like a missed flight. There are a host of comfortable modern hotels with reasonable rates including breakfast and free airport shuttle in the city of Guarulhos, and it is almost always possible to arrive in São Paulo without a previous hotel reservation. Simply walk to the far end of Terminal 2 and past the taxis outside where you will see a number of hotel minibuses picking up passengers. Most of the hotels have touts here who can sign you up for a room - all done in a very civilized manner.

If you must travel through Congonhas, there is a free shuttle bus service between the two airports for passengers of the TAM airline. I have taken this bus even when I wasn't a TAM passenger, they don't check if you have boarding passes so it may be possible to hop on. Otherwise there is the reasonably-priced Airport Bus Service which has ticket counters downstairs in both Terminals 1 and 2 at Guarulhos (you need to first go outside, then look for the counters beside the rental car agencies). The price is between R$25-30 from Guarulhos to Congonhas. This company also operates buses to the Tietê and Barra Funda bus stations in São Paulo.

Domestic air travel in Brazil often means a lot of connections. If booking with a travel agent through TAM or Gol, the two major domestic airlines, be sure to ask about your connections and stopovers. Re-check this when you arrive at the airport. Ask as many staff as possible, as the explanations can vary from one employee to the next or be somewhat unclear. Flights with any of the smaller domestic airlines can almost be assured to involve connections. The major air hubs are São Paulo (especially Congonhas), Rio de Janeiro, and Brasilia. A note about the domestic terminal at the Brasilia airport: if flying out of Brasilia from about 17:00 onwards, pay very careful attention to announcements about gate changes. For a variety of reasons, early evening is peak traffic time at this airport, and all of these flights are coming from elsewhere in the country. Delayed flights and a shortage of gate space tends to lead to gate changes, and I've seen more than a few people miss flights here simply because they weren't paying attention. Often rains in the Amazon will delay a flight leaving Belem or Manaus in the wee hours of the morning; this airplane may be scheduled to finish the day in Rio or Salvador, and thus an early delay throws it all off all the way down the line.

TAM and Gol are the airlines most frequently used in Brazil. TAM is generally more expensive, but sometimes offers more direct routes. Both can be booked online, though foreign users are often stymied by TAM's insistence that the consumer include a CPF # which few foreigners (certainly no visiting birders) will have. Gol accepts credit cards online, but not VISA (or at least it has never worked for me). Two airlines of interest to birders who visit Mato Grosso are TRIP and Ocean Air. The TRIP airline has run the Cuiabá-Alta Floresta for a number of years now, and while it is slightly more expensive it tends to be the more reliable of the two. Ocean Air is a newcomer to Mato Grosso, but often runs enticing promotions - at times the airfare is cheaper than taking the bus! Ocean Air does not accept international credit cards, but one can usually buy tickets at the airport in Cuiabá or elsewhere with short notice.

Below are some useful links:
TAM Linhas Aereas
Gol
TRIP Linhas Aereas
Ocean Air
Infraero - The site of the Brazilian Airport Agency - in Portuguese. Here you can check flight schedules and up-to-the-minute flight status online.

Driving

Brazil is a big country, and as such any birding trip that visits more than a couple of sites will probably involve a fair amount of driving. In Mato Grosso we actually get off easy, as the only drives a standard “Pantanal-Chapada-Amazon” trip will require are short drives between Cuiabá, Chapada dos Guimarães, and the Transpantaneira. However, if one wishes to combine any of these sites wither farther flung localities such as Emas National Park in Goiás or the Ilha do Bananal at São Felix do Araguaia, you need either a plane or a willingness to drive long distances, often through uninteresting habitat.

 

In Brazil used cars retain their value for many years, and the high prices combined with typical mechanical uncertainties means that buying a used car for a long birding trip isn’t a viable option like it may be in some other birding destinations, such as Australia for example.

 

Renting a car is the best option for the independent birder or small group of friends. Most Brazilian cars are compacts or subcompacts, but many of these small cars can be surprisingly roomy, particularly in the trunk. A group of four could easily make do in a GM Meriva, Fiat Palio Weekend or VW Parati. Two or three birders trying to keep costs low will want to opt for a more basic car, perhaps a Fiat Uno or Palio, or a VW Gol. Reliable car rental firms include Localiza, Hertz and Avis. Localiza tends to have the best coverage throughout the country. All major airports have rental car desks, but beware a 10% fee charged on all car rentals at Brazilian airports. Most companies also have an office in the city, and the airport fee does not apply on rentals from these locations. Inspect the car carefully before accepting it; locate the spare tire and jack, and check the condition of the spare. You may need it. Some companies, particularly Avis, charge ridiculous cleaning fees if a car is returned with dusty upholstery or a mud/sand which inevitably gets tracked in during a day’s birding. I specifically don’t recommend Avis in Cuiabá if one plans to visit the Pantanal or Chapada dos Guimarães – they once tried to charge me R$160 when I returned a dirty car after 6 days of birding in September!

 

Larger groups will want to contact a local operator or tour company to arrange transport for longer itineraries. These operators can provide good vans with professional drivers who are reliable, punctual and safe.

 

Road conditions in Brazil are widely variable. In the developed south and south-east, federal and state highways can be expected to be in good condition. Toll roads are usually excellent, and are widespread in those regions. In rural parts of central, north and central-west Brazil roads can be abysmal. In the Amazon region, the few major highways tend to deteriorate rather quickly throughout the rainy season. Inquire in advance as to the state of any doubtful roads. The policia rodoviária (highway police) along the roads tend to know best and usually don’t mind if you pull over at the many checkpoints to ask about conditions. There is also a useful website on the current conditions of federal highways maintained by the Department of Transport and Infrastructure. The most important advice to any potential driver in Brazil is to remain attentive at all times. Many excellent roads throughout the country may have one or two large unmarked potholes which can easily ruin a small car if not avoided. Pedestrians, animals, motorcycles and heavy trucks are mobile hazards which must be watched for at all times.

 

The Quatro Rodas Guia Rodoviário is an excellent road atlas with maps of all major roads and most significant unpaved roads. This can be picked up in bookstores in the major airports throughout the country, and also at larger service stations.

 

Cars in Brazil run on either gasoline (petrol) or alcohol (ethanol). All new cars manufactured in the past few years have a flex mechanism, meaning that you may fill the tank with either fuel type. Both fuels are widely available; alcohol is typically less expensive per litre. Service stations (postos) and borracharias (tire repair shops) are omnipresent in most areas, though fuel can be hard to come by in rural parts of the Brazilian Amazon. Service stations on major highways usually have reasonably clean washrooms and inexpensive per-kilo restaurants.

 

Essential reading for the visiting birder

Birds of Brazil by Kevin J. Zimmer - Princeton University Press
There is still no "modern" field guide covering all the birds occurring in the Brazilian territory. This guide, in preparation by a leading expert on Brazilian birds, promises to fill a big gap for birders visiting Brazil. No more shoehorning of species into a 'best fit', or deciding which plate relates to a certain section of text. It can expected that this field guide, along with a series of regional guides in preparation using plates from HBW, will do for birding in Brazil what new field guides have done to facilitate birding trips to Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile and Peru. Pre-order directly by clicking on the link below!




Birds of South America by Robert Ridgely and Guy Tudor - University of Texas Press
Still the definitive resource on South American birds and sure to be indispensable for many years to come. Until the Zimmer/Whittaker guide arrives, any birder visiting Brazil (especially the Amazon) without taking photocopies of the plates of Volume 2 or better still, bringing it as a reference for use in the hotel room during the evenings, is sure to encounter difficulties with two of South America's notorious and speciose families: the tyrant-flycatchers and the ovenbirds. Both volumes contain valuable information on all South American passerines, including vital information on habitat, behaviour, easiest locations to find key species, and taxonomy. Much of this text is gleaned from the many years of field experience of the lead author Robert Ridgely, but also supplemented by careful research and personal observations of leading ornithologists from all over the continent. A must for any birder seriously interested in learning something about the birds of South America. If you don't have it, bite the bullet, buy it, and bring it.

                      

Birds of South America - Non-passerines: Rheas to Woodpeckers by Francisco Ereze and Maurice Rumboll - Princeton University Press
This compact field guide is the size of a standard North American or European guide, and is an excellent book for a birder heading to any part of South America. It covers all the non-passerines occurring in South America; in fact, it is the compromise volume to complete the Birds of South America series, which was initially planned to span four volumes similar to the first two (see above). The artwork is excellent for some family groups and just adequate for others, and the scope of the work (an entire continent) means that range maps are necessarily tiny and of little use. However, until a new field guide covering all the species of Brazil comes out this will remain an invaluable resource on a birding trip here. The size is right; put it in your pack or even your pocket.



Birds in Brazil by Helmut Sick - Princeton University Press
This is the updated and translated version of Helmut Sick's masterpiece on Brazilian birds. This text is often recognized as the work which lit a flame in the Brazilian ornithological community, inspiring the many talented and dedicated ornithologists and birders in Brazil today. It isn't a field guide, instead more useful as a reference book to keep at home. Most of the text is the fruit of Helmut Sick's decades of work with Brazilian birds, though this English version has been updated by José Fernando Pacheco. Worth a look for any student of Brazilian birds, professional and amateur alike. Species accounts contain a lot of anecdotal information from rare observations, much of which doesn't appear elsewhere in the literature. There are also some beautiful colour plates, and excellent sections on biogeography and the major Brazilian biomes.



Neotropical Rainforest Mammals by Louise Emmons - University of Chicago Press
On any visit to Mato Grosso and most elsewhere in Brazil, you're bound to encounter some mammals. A combination of the Pantanal and Amazon rainforest is likely to produce some 15-20 mammal species, especially if a little nocturnal effort is invested. This very portable field guide is certainly the handiest resource for your mammal identification needs. The 29 colour plates contain 220 species, and there are an additional 7 plates of line drawings. Distribution maps are detailed, and generally good (though inaccurate for some speces). Most mammals guides are several bulky volumes, so while they may be better resources for the library or post-trip, this is the recommended guide to have in the field.



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USEFUL NON-BRAZIL TITLES
The titles below are all excellent field guides for their respective regions. Those who bird regularly in Brazil are eagerly awaiting the release of a title of the calibre of any of these field guides. I have included them because the focus of my site is Brazilian Amazonia. Visitors to the outlying states of Acre and Amazonas (for example, to the reportedly excellent Palmarí Lodge) should find the new Birds of Peru guide far more useful than any text dealing with Brazil that has been published thus far. The same goes for birders at Benjamin Constant, who may also find the Birds of Ecuador or the Birds of Colombia very useful. Those who venture as far as São Gabriel da Cachoeira will want either the Birds of Venezuela or the Birds of Colombia. If you plan to bird in the state of Roraima, also be sure to take Hilty's Venezuela guide with you. There is excellent birding throughout the Brazilian Amazon for those who wish to seek it out; it only makes sense that you go as fully prepared as you possibly can.