We shall be exhibiting once again this year at the British Birdwatching Fair in Rutland Water from the 15th – 17th August, we will be located in Marquee 1 stand 50, so please come along and see us!

During the past week we have once again seen some great birds! Excursions undertaken this week include the Bamboo Trail, Theodoro Trail, Macae de Cima Trail and the two High Altitude Trails. Birds of note have included White-necked and Mantled Hawk, we had great views from the side of the road of these two impressive raptors, White-rumped Hawk, Plovercrest, Saffron and Spot-billed Toucanets on the bird feeders, Black-billed Scythebill, Bertonis, Rufous-tailed and Dusky-tailed Antbirds, Black and Gold Cotinga, Grey-winged Cotinga on a rather cold and misty High Altitude excursion, Blue and Pin-tailed Manakins, Chestnut-headed, Red-necked and Brassy-breasted Tanagers, Bay-chested Warbling Finch, Buffy-fronted and Temmincks Seedeaters and 100’s of Uniform Finches!

Stuart Elsom has written an article in the June issue of Birdwatch magazine about his trip to Serra dos Tucanos Lodge and birding the Atlantic forest… so go out and buy yourself a copy!

Black and Gold Cotinga. Alan Jones©

We have just had a couple of weeks without guests here at the lodge, this has given us the opportunity to go on some exploration trips and try to add some more excursions to offer our guests. The Portao Azul excursion will soon be up and running, this will be a half day excursion and is approximately an hours drive from the lodge. The habitat is a mixture of mature forest with bamboo and some semi-open secondary growth. A visit there last week turned up Black-legged Dacnis, Temmincks Seedeater, Buffy-fronted Seedeater, White-bearded Antshrike, White-collared Foliage Gleaner, Ferruginous Antbird, Ochre-rumped Antbird, Uniform Finch, Gilt-edged Tanager, Tufted Antshrike, Grey-bellied Spinetail and several sites for Half-collared Sparrow.

Ferruginous Antbird. Andy Foster.

On another exploration trip to a private farm the other side of Nova Friburgo we have found a stronghold for Serra Antwren, this is a bird that we have only recorded a handful of times on the Jacamar Excursion, the previous site wasn’t brilliantly reliable, however, at this new site we recorded over 5 individual pairs within a very small area. We intend to make further visits to this area so watch this space!

Over the past couple of weeks we have had some brilliant birding! We have had many highlights, some of which are listed below:

Blue-winged Macaw
Pileated Parrot
Blue-bellied Parrot
Plovercrest
Brazilian Ruby
Rufous-capped Motmot
Three-toed Jacamar
Crescent-chested Puffbird
Saffron Toucanet
Spot-billed Toucanet
Yellow-browed Woodpecker
Pale-browed Treehunter
White-collared Foliage Gleaner
Spot-backed Antshrike
Giant Antshrike
White-bearded Antshrike
Slaty Bristlefront
Grey-winged Cotinga
Black and Gold Cotinga
Hooded Berryeater
Bare-throated Bellbird
Oustalets Tyrannulet
Chestnut-headed Tanager
Olive-green Tanager
Azure-shouldered Tanager
Green-chinned Euphonia
Gilt-edged Tanager
Temmincks Seedeater
Half-collared Sparrow

For the full trip report please visit

http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=1381

The new bird table suspended mid canopy on the forest edge is already getting regular visits from a party of 6 Saffron Toucanets and up to 8 Spot-billed Toucanets! Channel-billed Toucans and Crested Oropendolas have also made brief visits to the trees close to the table, so fingers crossed these too will become regular visitors. The vegetable waste feeder hidden away inside the forest is beginning to attract Gray-fronted Doves, but not a lot else at the moment, we shall keep you posted!

Spot-billed Toucanet. Andy Foster©

The weather over the past week has become much cooler and mixed flocks are becoming more abundant. We have recently set up 2 new feeding stations, the first being a banana feeder mid canopy on the forest edge to try and attract Channel-billed Toucans and other shy species closer to the lodge, this can be seen clearly from the veranda and patio area with a scope. Within the first week this has already attracted Spot-billed Toucanets and Plain Parakeets…so watch this space! The second new feeding station is a collection of fruit and vegetable waste located in a quiet spot on the extension trail, this is aimed at attracting Tinamous, Spot-winged Wood-Quails, Rufous-capped Antthrush and other species to feed on any insects that will slowly accumulate in this area, we also hope to attract some of the smaller mammal species.

We are looking into offering a new half day excursion, this will be in a private area close to Nova Friburgo and offer some excellent birding at around 1600m in altitude. Recent exploration trips there have already found a stronghold for the endemic Half-collared Sparrow, Dusky-tailed Antbird, White-collared Foliage Gleaner and a new species for the lodge list, a White-bellied form of the Yellow-bellied Seedeater.

Blake Maybank has left us after a 7 week stay and having brought along 3 groups of mostly Canadian birders. Keep checking his website as at some stage it will have a detailed report of his trip together with all of the groups sightings and other useful information. His site also offers a wealth of birding information for Canada, North and South America.

The feeders continue to be very busy with Azure-shouldered Tanagers visiting regularly together with the usual collection of several other Tanager species, Spot-billed Toucanets and of course the Blond-crested Woodpecker putting in its usual daily appearances! 7 species of hummingbirds have been recorded on the hummingbird feeders this week including the now resident Brazilian Ruby.

Azure-shouldered Tanager. Andy Foster©

Brazilian Ruby. Andy Foster©

This past week hás seen a mixed bag of weather making birding conditions somewhat difficult on a couple of days. Our guide Pete got himself a lifer (which is getting increasingly difficult to do so)! Spotted Bamboo Wren has only been recorded on our Macae de Cima Trail in the past so Pete was very happy to have had one on the Bamboo Trail. Other highlights on the Bamboo Trail included Pale-browed Treehunter, White-browed Foliage Gleaner, 5 White-throated Woodcreepers, Ochre-rumped and Bertonis Antbird, several Hooded Berryeaters, Black and Gold Cotinga and excellent views of a Black-Hawk Eagle.

Temmincks Seedeater was again seen at Serra dos Orgaos National Park, and in the lower section of the Park Salvadoris Antwren and Rufous-capped Motmot gave good views. On our High Altitude Excursion Upper Section Itatiaia Thistletail showed well and the group also got great views of a White-rumped Hawk.

Hooded Berryeater by Blake Maybank© on the Bamboo Trail

There has been a large antswarm moving around on the lodge trails, although this has made trail walking somewhat hazardous (!) the rewards were many. Birds feeding around the swarm have included Surucua Trogon, Yellow-eared Woodpecker, White-eyed Foliage Gleaner, Thrush-like, White-throated, Lesser and Scaled Woodcreepers, Spot-breasted and Plain Antvireos and Black-cheeked Gnateater.

Black-cheeked Gnateater by Stuart Elsom©

Throughout this past week we are beginning to notice a real change in the seasonal movement of our resident birds. Temperatures are beginning to fall to around 12 degrees centigrade during the night but still climbing to the mid to high twenties during the day.

Due to this night time fall in temperature we have already seen an increase in the number of Brazilian Ruby Hummingbirds resident at the lodge together with our first record for the year of Azure-shouldered Tanager on the lodge feeders. Large mixed flocks, some containing over 15-20 species are now being seen regularly on most of the excursions.

Birds of note for the past week have included a pair of Tawny-browed Owls at the lodge, Saffron Toucanets and Oustalets Tyrannulet on the Cedae Trail together with a large mixed flock of Red-necked, Brassy-breasted and Green-headed Tanagers. On the Theodoro Trail we have recorded Spot-backed and Giant Antshrikes and White-collared Foliage Gleaner. On the Three-toed Jacamar Excursion Pete has been showing guests good numbers of White Woodpeckers, Black-necked Aracaris, Curl-crested Jay, White-vented Violet-ear and of course several Three-toed Jacamars!

Brassy-breasted Tanager by Peter Basterfield©

During the past week Pete has been busy guiding a group of 11 Canadian birders, some of the highlights from this week include Mantled Hawk on our Macae de Cima trail, 4 Red-legged Seriema, several White Woodpeckers and 3 Three-toed Jacamars on the Jacamar excursion, Frilled Coquette and Crescent-chested Puffbird are still in the lodge gardens, Saffron Toucanets and Oustalets Tyrannulet on the Cedae Trail, Itatiaia Thistletail, 3 Swallow-tailed Cotingas and 5 Black and Gold Cotingas on the High Altitude Excursion, 7 Hooded Berryeaters, White-bearded Antshrike, Ochre-rumped and Bertonis Antbirds on the Bamboo Trail.

The fruit feeders at the lodge continue to attract vast numbers of birds as we are now heading into our autumn and fruit in the forest is becoming harder to find. This week has seen 2 Blond-crested Woodpeckers feeding regularly, up to 7 Spot-billed Toucanets, Green-headed, Golden-chevroned, Ruby-crowned and Brazilian Tanagers, Buff-throated Saltator, 2 Green Honeycreepers and several appearances by a couple of Blue-naped Chlorophonias. The hummingbird feeders are also busy with a pair of Brazilian Rubys, Saw-billed and Rufous-breasted Hermits, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, up to 8 Sombre Hummingbirds, 15+ Black Jacobins and several Violet-capped Woodnymphs.

Blue-naped Chlorophonia at the feeders by Simon Warry©

Yesterday was spent on the High Altitude Trail Upper section. We had a great day even though the weather threatened to close in on several occasions. We saw some fantastic birds including small flocks of Bay-chested Warbling Finches, Serra do Mar Tyrannulet, a pair of Rufous-tailed Antbirds, a stunning male Plovercrest, White-throated Hummingbird, Diademed Tanagers, Rufous Gnateater, Black and Gold Cotinga and Shear-tailed Gray-Tyrant.

The two main target birds of this excursion are without doubt Itatiaia Thistletail and Grey-winged Cotinga, both discovered by us in the area a couple of years ago. These two birds are very range restricted and difficult to encounter elsewhere.

Thankfully we managed with a little effort and perseverance to see two Grey-winged Cotingas and one Itatiaia Thistletail, both great endemics of this region!

Male Plovercrest photographed by Simon Warry© on the High Altitude Trail

A Naturetrek group has just departed after a 7 night stay, racking up over 200 species with a stunning endemic White-necked Hawk perched in the forest close to the lodge being their final bird this morning!

With rain set in for the weekend the bird tables are becoming busy and we are rapidly making our way through 10kg of bananas a day! Over 30 species visited the various feeding stations today, including Blond-crested Woodpecker, Green-headed Tanagers and a party of 5 Spot-billed Toucanets! Our feeders have been nominated by a reader of Winging-it (American Birding Association publication) as one of the best feeding stations in the world!!

Highlights for the first week of March have included the following:
Crescent-chested Puffbird and Frilled Coquette still present around the lodge gardens together with a handful of sightings of Blue-bellied Parrots on the Extension Trail. A male Brazilian Ruby is also spending time at the feeders in the lodge grounds and a Dusky-throated Hermit has been seen briefly on several occasions.

Great views of Large-tailed Antshrike on the High Altitude trail and Spot-winged Wood-quail at the Serra dos Orgaos National park. The Bamboo trail has been productive as normal with good views of the following; Ruddy Quail-dove, Slaty Bristlefront, Hooded Berryeater, White-bearded Antshrike, White-collared Foliage Gleaner, Bertoni’s Antbird and Green-winged Saltator amongst many other species.
The photo below is of a Blue-bellied Parrot in the grounds of the lodge taken by John Rowlett from Field guides.

Crescent-chested Puffbird taken by Cristina in the grounds of the lodge.

You will see from our website that we have decided to re-publish our pocket field guide to the Birds of Serra dos Tucanos. The Birds of Serra dos Tucanos by Ber van Perlo and Andy Foster illusrates over 450 species of birds found around the lodge and on the excursions that we offer from the lodge, together with a brief description of each species and an abundance key.


This new edition includes several new plates of species recently added to our bird list, and is very useful in the field as it's dedicated to the birds of the region. Please note that the book is availabe pre-order only, please e-mail us for further details.

One of the plates from the field guide:

1. White-winged Becard
2. Black-capped Becard
3. Crested Becard
4. Green-backed Becard
5. Chestnut-crowned Becard
6. Swallow-tailed Cotinga
7. Black and Gold Cotinga
8. Grey-winged Cotinga
9. Bare-throated Bellbird
10. Hooded Berryeater

Welcome to the new Serra dos Tucanos Lodge updates page. We are now in our 5th year of providing accommodation and expertly guided birding trips within the Atlantic rain forest of south-east Brasil. The aim of this blog page is to keep past and future guests informed of the latest sightings and news here at Serra dos Tucanos. Keep revisiting for further updates!

We are now in the midst of our summer and the majority of our birds are coming to the end of their breeding period. Many species have bred within the grounds of the lodge once again but particular species of note include Solitary Tinamou, Grey-rumped Swift Violet-capped Woodnymph, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Thrush-like Woodcreeper, Star-throated Antwren, Ferruginous Antbird, Black-cheeked Gnateater, Blue and Pin-tailed Manakins, Grey-capped Tyrannulet, Eye-ringed Tody-Tyrant, Brazilian Tanager, Chestnut-bellied Euphonia, Green-headed and Red-necked Tanagers.

2007 saw an additional 17 new species recorded on the lodge excursions, these were the following:

Manx Shearwater, Swainsons Hawk, Spot-flanked Moorhen, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Golden-tailed Parrotlet, Pearly-breasted Cuckoo, Black-capped Screech-Owl, White-vented Violet-ear, Salvadoris Antwren, Serra Antwren, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Rough-legged Tyrannulet, Green-chinned Euphonia, Golden-rumped Euphonia, Black-legged Dacnis, Long-tailed Reed-Finch and Buffy-fronted Seedeater.