Birding in Mato Grosso and Brazil

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Brazil: Guajará-Mirim area, RO

NEOBIRD,

I spent August 5th to 7th birding in the state of
Rondonia, Brasil. The morning of the 5th (0700 to
1200) was spent birding in logged forest along the
BR-425 a few kilometres south of its junction with the
BR-364 (the main road from Porto Velho to Rio Branco).
The forest can be accessed from various logging tracks
which cross the Eletronorte hydroline corridor and
enter tall, partially logged forest. From there I
continued on to Guajará-Mirim on the Brasil-Bolivia
border at the Rio Mamoré, where I stayed two nights at
the Pakaas Palafitas Lodge, located some 25 minutes
from town. 

Pakaas Palafitas is located at the confluence of the
Rios Mamoré and Pacaás Novos. The lodge itself has a
nice view of the rivers, and I saw both species of
river dolphin in a single afternoon from the lodge
dock. Pakaas has about 2 km of elevated boardwalks
which cut through varzea forest and provide enough
bird activity to fill a leisurely afternoon. Boat
trips from the lodge are also possible, and the
probable highlight is a visit to the river islands
known as Sete Ilhas (the seven islands) up the Rio
Mamoré about 30 minutes. I also caught a ride by car
to spend a morning at a patch of forest that has been
badly degraded from all sides, but still holds a
number of species typical to southern Amazonian
forests including 15 species of antbirds and 7
woodcreepers. However, it seems unlikely that this
community will exist for more than another decade as
the forest appears to be merely a swath between cattle
pastures which follows the course of the road.

The manager of Pakaas, Dayan, appears interested in
attracting more birders. He and the local guide,
Pilim, also mentioned that a visit to the Reserva
Extratavista de Ouro Preto, up the Rio Pacaás Novos,
could be productive.

Without further ado, the avian highlights of my visit.

05 August 2006, forest along BR-425 south of the
BR-364:

Bicolored Hawk (Accipiter bicolor) - an adult flew in
and perched up for 10 minutes near the top of a nearly
leafless tree along the logging track

Cryptic Forest-Falcon (Micrastur mintoni) - heard only

Chestnut-capped Puffbird (Bucco macrodactylus) - 1 at
forest edge of hydroline corridor

Rufous-tailed Xenops (Xneops milleri) - a single bird
briefly joined a large canopy flock, though probably
merely out of convenience, as it disappeared shortly
thereafter while the flock remained in the area for
another ten minutes

Chestnut-shouldered Antwren (Terenura humeralis) - a
pair with same canopy flock

Warbling Antbird (Hypocnemis cantator) - very common;
obviously quite vocally and visually distinct from
forms of the species in the upper Rio Tapajós drainage

White-breasted Antbird (Rhegmatorhina hoffmannsi) - a
single female encountered at a small antswarm

Black-spotted Bare-eye (Phlegopsis nigromaculata) - 3
to 5 individuals at the same antswarm

Rusty-belted Tapaculo (Liosceles thoracicus) - heard
and tape-recorded in tall terra firme with many palms
in the middle storey

Crested Becard (Pachyramphus validus) - a male joined
the large mixed canopy flock

Snow-capped Manakin (Lepidothrix nattereri) - 2 areas
with lekking birds

Fiery-capped Manakin (Machaeropterus pyrocephalus) -
heard a few times

Whiskered Flycatcher (Myiobius barbatus) - a pair with
an understorey flock which formed in front of me as I
taped Rusty-belted Tapaculo

PM 05 August 2006, Pakaas Palafitas Lodge

Long-winged Harrier (Circus buffoni) - a dark-phase
adult seen mid-afternoon from the lodge

Tui Parakeet (Brotogeris sanctithomae) - common in the
varzea

Band-tailed Nighthawk (Nyctiprogne leucopyga) -
hundreds flying down the Rio Mamoré at dusk

06 August 2006, from Pakaas Palafitas, boat to Sete
Ilhas on the Rio Mamoré

Boat-billed Heron (Cochlearius cochlearius) - 1 adult
seen crossing the Rio Pacaás Novos at dusk toward the
Rio Mamoré

Southern Screamer (Chauna torquata) - a single bird at
Sete Ilhas

Orinoco Goose (Neochen jubata) - a pair resting on
rocky shoals at Sete Ilhas

Sungrebe (Heliornis fulica) - 1, Rio Pacaás Novos

Collared Plover - 1
White-backed Stilt - 1
Solitary Sandpiper - 2
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1

at a riverbank at the north end of Sete Ilhas, we
found many psittacids ingesting minerals in
mid-morning:

Dusky-headed Parakeet (60+), Golden-winged Parakeet
(10-15), Orange-cheeked Parrot (3), and 50+ Scaled
Pigeons

Sand-colored Nighthawk (Chordeiles rupestris) -
numerous at Sete Ilhas

Nacunda Nighthawk (Podager nacunda) - 8, Sete Ilhas

White-bellied Spinetail (Synallaxis propinqua) - a
pair seen and tape-recorded in young scrub and cane on
a small river island at Sete Ilhas

River Tyrannulet (Serpophaga hypoleuca) - a pair on
the small river island

Plain Tyrannulet (Inezia inornata) - 4+ on the small
river island, responding in agitation to tape of
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Apparently only an austral
migrant to Amazonian Brasil

Chestnut-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila
castaneiventris) - a nice male at Sete Ilhas

07 August 2006, strip of forest along a road leading
to various fazendas

Spix's Guan (Penelope jacquacu) - seemingly numerous

Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) - a single
bird flying very high early AM over pastures was
presumably undertaking a long-distance movement; local
guide Pilim insisted that he sees Hyacinths with
reasonable frequency in the area

Spangled Cotinga (Cotinga cayana) - a male at a
fruiting tree

Purple-throated Fruitcrow (Querula purpurata) - a
calling pair responded well to tape and imitations,
flying in and perching above me

Giant Cowbird (Molothrus oryzivorus) - sadly, I saw
several individuals flying over the forest in the
morning, presumably commuting between pastures

In spite of the depressing outlook for tall forest in
Rondonia, I nevertheless enjoyed my couple of days.
There are a number of sites in the state definitely
worth checking out still. I would like to thank the
folks from the Brazilian birding newsgroup "birdingbr"
who helped me with site information, particularly
Alyson Melo and Guto. I can also recommend Tomás
Schmitz as an able and accomodating travel agent who
knows a great deal about the state and its birding
possibilities. Contact me privately if you wish to
contact Tomás.

Good birding,

Bradley Davis