A birdwatching trip that combines the abundant and diverse avifauna of the Pantanal with great mammal viewing opportunities. An overwhelming birding experience in the heart of South America.
The largest wetland in the World, the Pantanal is one of the last major untouched nature reserves on the face of the earth. The wildlife is amazingly abundant here, and its seasonally flooded plains attract immense quantities of birds and caimans, and is also one of the most mammal rich areas of South America. The Transpantaneira road transects the northern portion of the Pantanal and offers the visitor close encounters with Jabiru storks, Roseate Spoonbills, Southern Screamers, at least four species of ibises, several species of birds of prey, egrets, herons and many other animals that come to the ditches along the road in search of water and food, making every drive a great safari. Our journey will take us deeper into the Pantanal to the area with the highest concentration of Jaguars in the world, and we will devote some time to look for this enigmatic creature. There will be time for some birding around the hotel as well, and Pied Lapwing, Black Skimmer, Large-billed and Yellow-billed Terns can be seen along the sand margins as well as several shorebird species at a migration stopover.
Key bird species include Red-legged Seriema, Agami and Zigzag herons, Chestnut-bellied Guan, Sungrebe and Sunbittern, Hyacinth Macaw, Long-tailed Ground Dove, Black-banded Owl, White-fronted and Pale-crested Woodpeckers, White-lored and Cinereous-breasted Spinetails, Mato Grosso Antbird, Planalto Slaty Antshrike, Subtropical Doradito, Helmeted Manakin, Red-billed Scythebill, Flavescent Warbler, Moustached & Fawn-breasted Wrens, Purplish Jay, Orange-backed Troupial, and many others.
Among the mammals possible on this trip are Capybara, Crab-eating Raccoon, South-American Coati, Southern Tamandua, Giant Anteater, Black Howler monkey, Black-striped Tufted Capuchin, Crab-eating Fox, Ocelot, Marsh Deer, Giant Otter, and Brazilian Tapir.
Highlights: up to 250 bird species including Hyacinth Macaws, parrots, rare and endemic species, up to 20 species of mammals.
This trip is easily combined with Chapada dos Guimarães for Cerrado specialties and Cristalino Lodge for Amazonian birds. Other extensions available.
