Fruiting trees

Maroon-bellied Parakeet inside the canopy of a fruiting tree beside the lodge.

This is the time of the year when a lot of trees are fruiting. There a lot of such trees all around the lodge, of many different species, and they are all attracting great numbers of birds. We see daily on these trees species like Red-necked, Golden-chevroned, Azure-shouldered, Ruby-crowned and Fawn-breasted Tanagers; Black-tailed Tityra; Surucua and White-tailed Trogons; Maroon-bellied Parakeet; Scaly-headed Parrot; Saffron Toucanet; Yellow-fronted and Blond-crested Woodpeckers; Sharpbill; Pin-tailed Manakin; among many others.

New photos from the park

This weekend we were visited by photographers Octavio Campos Salles, which also works as a guide with us here at Zizo, and André Goldstein. They managed to photograph a lot of birds with their long lenses. Here’s a small selection of some of the photos taken by Octavio.

If you hear a very thin, descending psssiiii-pssiii-pssii-pssi look above because it's a Pin-tailed Manakin, such as this female. This bird is both an Atlantic rainforest and a brazilian endemic.

A female Black-tailed Tityra foraging at the undergrowth just behind the lodge.

The bright red belly of the Surucua Trogon is a distinct feature among the greenery of the vegetation.

The Chestnut-crowned Becard is common around the lodge, where they have several nests right now.

Edson Endrigo visits the reserve again

This weekend we had the very pleasant visit of Edson Endrigo, birdwatching guide, and two north-american clients. They saw a lot of birds and throughly enjoyed their stay. Among many other species, they saw the elusive Spot-winged Wood-Quail, the resident pair of Tawny-browed Owls, the nearly-threatned Red-capped Parrot, the distinctively marked Black-capped Foliage-gleaner, the rare and highly endemic Salvadori’s Antwren (a true Zizo specialty!), the skulking Squamate Antbird and some active Three-striped Flycatchers. Way to go!

Birding report, November 6-7, 2009

 

This weekend we received the visit from the well-travelled ecuadorian guide Lelis Navarrete from Neblina Forest Tours and his client Robert Johnson. Also with them was Octavio Campos Salles. They stayed for only a day and a half yet they saw a total of a 140 birds, with 22 heard only and 118 seen, including 5 new additions to our list! A very good number considering the short amount of time and the forest-only habitat of the park.

Red: heard only

Black: seen

Green: new species to the list

 

Solitary Tinamou

Brown Tinamou

Dusky-legged Guan

Black-fronted Piping-Guan

Spot-winged Wood-Quail

Black Vulture

Mantled Hawk

Short-tailed Hawk

Black Hawk-Eagle (?? maybe, this was an immature bird)

Roadside Hawk

Barred Forest-Falcon

Southern Lapwing

Picazuro Pigeon

Plumbeous Pigeon

Gray-fronted Dove

Maroon-bellied Parakeet

Blue-winged Parrotlet

Plain Parakeet

Scaly-headed Parrot

Red-capped Parrot

Blue-bellied Parrot

Squirrel Cuckoo

Tropical Screech-Owl

Tawny-browed Owl

Black-capped Screech-Owl

Common Pauraque

Short-tailed Nighthawk

White-collared Swift

Gray-rumped Swift

Scale-throated Hermit

Black Jacobin

Violet-capped Woodnymph

Sombre Hummingbird

White-throated Hummingbird

White-tailed Trogon

Black-throated Trogon

Suruca Trogon

Crescent-chested Puffbird

Saffron Toucanet

Red-breasted Toucan

Ochre-collared Piculet

White-spotted Woodpecker

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker

Green-barred Woodpecker

Campo Flicker

Blond-crested Woodpecker

Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper

Rufous-capped Spinetail

Spix’s Spinetail

Pale-browed Treehunter

Ochre-breasted Foliage-gleaner

Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner

Black-capped Foliage-gleaner

White-collared Foliage-gleaner

White-eyed Foliage-gleaner

Plain-winged Woodcreeper

Olivaceous Woodcreeper

Lesser Woodcreeper

White-throated Woodcreeper

Spot-backed Antshrike

Giant Antshrike

Spot-breasted Antvireo

Plain Antvireo

Ferruginous Antbird

Scaled Antbird

Ochre-rumped Antbird

Streak-capped Antwren

Star-throated Antbird

Salvadori’s Antwren

White-shouldered Fire-eye

Squamate Antbird

Short-tailed Antthrush

Variegated Antpitta

Black-cheeked Gnateater

White-breasted Tapaculo

Oustalet’s Tyrannulet

Bay-ringed Tyrannulet

Eared Pigmy-Tyrant

White-throated Spadebill

Olivaceous Elaenia

Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet

Large-headed Flatbill

Sepia-capped Flycatcher

Yellow-breasted Flycatcher (also a new species to the list and a considerable range extension to the south)

Euler’s Flycatcher

Gray-hooded Flycatcher

Black-tailed Flycatcher

Boat-billed Flycatcher

Great Kiskadee

Three-striped Flycatcher

Social Flycatcher

Tropical Kingbird

Variegated Flycatcher

Streaked Flycatcher

Swainson’s Flycatcher

Gray-hooded Attila

Rufous-tailed Attila

Sharbill

Bare-throated Bellbird

Cinnamon-vented Piha

Hooded Berryeater

Blue Manakin

Pin-tailed Manakin

Greenish Schiffornis

Crested Becard

Chestnut-crowned Becard

Black-tailed Tityra

Red-eyed Vireo

Rufous-crowned Greenlet

Southern Rough-winged Swallow

Blue-and-white Swallow

Southern House Wren

Long-billed Gnatwren

Rufous-bellied Thrush

Pale-breasted Thrush

White-necked Thrush

Yellow-legged Thrush

Rufous-headed Tanager

Green-headed Tanager

Red-necked Tanager

Blue Dacnis

Azure-shouldered Tanager

Sayaca Tanager

Golden-chevroned Tanager

Palm Tanager

Red-crowned Ant-Tanager

Olive-green Tanager

Ruby-crowned Tanager

Fawn-breasted Tanager

Magpie Tanager

Double-collared Seedeater

Blue-black Grassquit

Saffron Finch

Black-throated Grosbeak

White-rimmed Warbler

Golden-crowned Warbler

Riverbank Warbler

Blue-naped Chlorophonia

Chestnut-bellied Euphonia

Violaceous Euphonia

New field guide covering all the birds of Brazil!

“A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil”, by Ber van Perlo, has been released. This guide was highly awaited as it covers all the species in Brazil, updated with recent discoveries and splits. We were certainly in need of such a book – a must-have for any birder coming to Brazil from now on. Available at all major bookstores or just follow this link to Amazon.com. 

New annotated checklist of birds

We have uploaded to our website a new annotated checklist prepared by Octavio Salles. So far our list of bird species counts 267 and growing. This includes only the birds inside the park property. If we were going to include all the species from the beggining of the dirt road (in rural areas) we would surely count a lot more. This list was prepared based on the sightings of several experienced birders and the author.

This checklist has a few comments for each species, such as preferred habitat, key diagnostic features in case of cryptic species, song, habits, etc. You can see it by clicking on the link below:

Checklist of Birds of Zizo (pdf file)

Wild cats

Seeying wild cats at Zizo is not an uncommon thing, but this weekend we saw not one, but two Jaguarundi (Felis pardalis), all on the same day! And they were two different individuals because of the different colors, one was strangely dark while the other had the traditional pattern. The 1st. one was seen at the parking lot and the other one by the lodge, near the students/biologists settlement.

We also saw a pair a Mantled (Leucopternis polionotus) and White-necked Hawks (L. lacernulatus).

Viewpoint inauguration

 

Last week we oficially opened the viewpoint at Morro dos Carvalhos. It now receives the name “Mirante dos Gaviões” in a homage to the Gavião family of São Miguel Arcanjo. It’s also a coincidence that “gavião” in portuguese means “hawk”… and the viewpoint is certainly a great place to see soaring hawks, such as this magnificent Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle seen from this spot.

Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus melanoleucus)

The view from there is amazing, with primary rainforest everywhere you look. It was used in the past but there was no structure there, now there is a bench so that you can comfortably wait for the raptors to come by and a small roof just in case it starts to rain! It’s also a great place to see swifts at eye level, including the rare Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift

The view, complete with rain squalls, late afternoon sun and a rainbow

Howdy!

Welcome to Parque do Zizo’s blog! For those who don’t know us, we are a Private Nature Reserve in SE Brazil, right in the middle of the largest patch of Atlantic Rainforest left.

We focus on birdwatching trips, and our extremelly well preserved forest has yelded several very elusive species, like the Buff-fronted Owl pictured at the blog’s header, Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Helmeted Woodpecker, Purple-winged Ground-Dove, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, etc.

We’ll be updating this blog frequently with news from the reserve, birding tips and exciting reports.

Consider us for an unforgettable birdwatching trip to the endemics-rich Atlantic Rainforest. Support who preserve primary rainforest. For more details visit www.parquedozizo.com.br