HARPY EAGLE NEST SITE
URBAN HARPY EAGLE NEST (3 days)
Consult with us for your preferred dates
In 2005, students walking in the forest as part of an ecotourism training course in the city of Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso discovered a bird's nest the size of a small car in a trailside faveiro tree (Parkia sp.). The nest was unoccupied at the moment of discovery, but an ornithologist working in the region at the time visited the nest the next day. Half expecting to find the local pair of White-browed Hawks in attendance, he was stunned when a hulking juvenile Harpy Eagle appeared beside the nest!
Since the initial discovery, this same pair of Harpy Eagles have been resident in a forest fragment within the urban core of the small town of Alta Floresta in the extreme north of Mato Grosso state. The eagles successfully fledged and raised a single chick in both 2006 and 2009. A Harpy Eagle chick fledges after six months in the nest, and subsequently spends another year around the nest, learning to fly and hunt on its own while still depending on its parents for the bulk of its food. The early onset of the rainy season in 2011 brought activity once more to the nest site, and by October the pair were being seen on a near daily basis around the nest, renovating and courting. By the third week of November, the female Harpy began to stay within the confines of the nest bowl, and it appears that she is incubating. Incubation in Harpy Eagles lasts between 55 and 60 days. If all goes well, it seems that the chances for Harpy Eagle through mid-2012 will be excellent in Alta Floresta.
The urban Harpy nest in Alta Floresta must be Brazil's most accessible nest site for this species, the world's most powerful raptor and the eagle which captures the imagination of any visitor to the Neotropics. The nest is literally just a few minutes walk from our comfortable hotel in the town of Alta Floresta, and to say that one can be watching Harpies on the nest just 25 minutes after picking up your bags from one of the 3 daily flights is not a stretch at all!
Birding Mato Grosso is proud to offer short trips for Harpy Eagle suited to your preferred dates; add it on as an extension to your Pantanal trip, or consider extending a visit for Harpy to include a few days at either or both of the excellent birding lodges near Alta Floresta, the Cristalino Jungle Lodge and the Rio Azul Jungle Lodge. Contact us for more details and to inquire as to the current status of the urban Harpy nest.About this tour - Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival in Alta Floresta in the afternoon or evening with the TRIP airline from Cuiabá, or with Passaredo from Brasilia. You will be met at the airport and taken to a comfortable hotel nearby with its own private rainforest reserve. This is the site of the Harpy Eagle nest, and we could conceivably be watching a Harpy a half hour after you land in Alta Floresta! The forest patch at this hotel also holds White-tailed Trogon, Pied and White-necked Puffbirds, Crimson-bellied Parakeet, Bare-necked Fruitcrow, and Rose-breasted Chat. After dinner we can look for owls on the hotel grounds, where possibilities include Austral Screech-Owl and Crested Owl. Night in Alta Floresta.Day 2: Alta Floresta. An area of riverine forest west of town offers an excellent introduction to the birds of the Southern Amazon. Antbird junkies should get their fix with chances for Glossy, Amazonian and Chestnut-backed Antshrikes, Amazonian Antwren, and Silvered and Band-tailed Antbirds. Near the river edges we'll look for Greater Schiffornis and Cinnamon Attila, while the narrow river itself supports Sunbittern, Green-and-rufous Kingfisher, and even Giant Otters are seen here occasionally. Keeping a close eye on the canopy could produce a Spangled or Pompadour Cotinga sighting, along with perhaps Red-necked Aracari, Blue-and-yellow Macaw, Madeira Parakeet, Gray-chested Greenlet, Red-billed Pied-Tanager or Paradise Tanager. Amazonian Antpitta is fairly common at this site, and if we're fortunate to hear one fairly close to the road we'll give it our best shot. In the afternoon we can return to the Harpy nest to try to observe the nesting behaviour of these magnificent predators. A late walk down to a nearby complex of ponds is usually good for Red-and-green, Chestnut-fronted, and Red-bellied Macaws, along with Lineated Woodpecker and Cinnamon-throated Woodcreeper on the many exposed snags around the ponds. Night in Alta Floresta.
Day 3: Alta Floresta and outbound flights. We have a full morning in and around Alta Floresta at our disposition. This may mean another trip to the nest to watch the Harpies, or perhaps a visit to another forest site near town. Specialty birds which occur in the area that we may not have seen by this point include the gorgeous Red-fan Parrot, Point-tailed Palmcreeper (perhaps the most striking of all the furnarids), and skulkers such as Gray-breasted and Russet-crowned Crakes. After a farewell lunch at a popular local restaurant, you will check in for your outbound flights to either Cuiabá (TRIP) or Brasilia (Passaredo).
About this tour - Price: The cost of this tour is $800 USD per person in double occupancy. The tour begins and ends in Alta Floresta. Included in the above price is accommodation in Alta Floresta on Days 1 and 2, meals from dinner on Day 1 to lunch on Day 3, non-alcoholic beverages, transportation during the tour, professional birding guide and translation services. Domestic travel within Brazil is not included in the tour price, however we will be happy to provide advice regarding domestic travel (by air or comfortable coach from Cuiabá or Brasilia) to help the tour begin and end smoothly. If desired by the client, we are also happy to include travel from Cuiabá (also São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro) to Alta Floresta for the cost of the tickets. As of November 2011, return airfare Cuiabá - Alta Floresta costs $300 USD per person minimum (may fluctuate as high as $800 USD round trip if purchased last-minute); round trip bus fare is $170 USD per person. For single travelers, a single supplement may be required.
About this tour - Timing: We can run this trip at any time of year, in accordance with your preferred dates. If the nest proceeds normally, we can expect the presence of the adults on a daily basis up until a chick is born (Jan-Feb), with the time between visits by the adults increasing as the chick grows. By fledging time, the adult Harpies may only visit the nest to bring food every 2nd or 3rd day, although the chick itself will probably stay very close to the nest throughout its first year of life.
About this tour - Difficulty: Fairly easy. All birding is done from flat trails or roads. The heat and humidity, combined with long birding mornings, can wear Northern birders down. We will always rest in the afternoons after lunch during the heat of the day before starting out as bird activity starts to pick up again. A small fold-up portable chair or stool can be extremely useful, particularly when waiting at the Harpy nest for an adult to arrive.
About this tour - Climate: Hot and humid.
The Southern Amazonian region around Alta Floresta has two very different seasons - wet and dry. The wet season falls between roughly November and April, while the dry season is from June to October. Birding is possible throughout the year, with each different season offering its own rewards. Contact us for further information regarding the seasons, and the birding possibilities that each brings.
About this tour - Accommodation: Good. Our hotel in Alta Floresta is the best in town, with all modern conveniences including swimming pool for refreshing dips during the hottest hours of the day. Electrical current is 110V. It is worth noting that some or all rooms in the hotel have been adapted to the newly standardized electrical outlets being phased in across Brazil. The outlets use 3 round pins, with the central ground pin slightly offset (see here for an example). These outlets will also accept plugs with 2 round pins. Check your equipment beforehand to see what adapter you may need!
Photographic opportunities: Limited but worthwhile. Photography in dense rainforest can be difficult at times due to low light and shy subjects. Digiscopers and photographers with a decent lens should have no problem photographing the Harpies, given patience and responsible field behaviour around the nest site.
For inquiries as to availability and pricing in other currencies, please contact us via e-mail at bradley@birdingmatogrosso.com.
all material on this site ©2011 Bradley Davis unless otherwise noted