Tapir

The largest brazilian mammal "Tapir" are pretty common in Paranapiacaba range, especially in primary growth forest, this one below was captured by one of our camera trap, at about 02:00, grazing by the Agua comprida river, next to Carmo Road.

  

Silky-tailed Nightjar

The Silky-tailed Nightjar was seen again at Barra Grande Road, after few years without recording, this Nightjar is easily identified by its remarkable song, and it is one of the most sought-after bird by the visitors. 

Cocoi Heron, Blue-naped Chlorophonia and Chestnut-headed Tanager

A Cocoi Heron was photographed 1.5 km from Intervales headquarters on April 4 th, This species had been seen in Intervales few times but never officially documented.

 

Cocoi Heron (by Renato Paiva)

Another important species seen recently were:  Blue-naped Chlorophonia and Chestnut-headed Tanager, they were seen and some of them photographed by the visitors, at Carmo Road, these species are not common in the park and spot few times in the last years.

Birding around the world

Last month we had 2 unusual birders from the USA visiting Intervales, they came driving their own vehicle (a Ford F150 truck with extended cab), from California. They have crossed many countries in South America before their arrival in the park. In fact this the second time we received long distance driving birders from USA.

 

 

Guira Tanager is the new species in Intervales

Last week at Carmo Road a group of birders from England along with our birding guide spotted for the first time a pair of "Guira Tanager", unfortunatelly we could not take any picture.

Saibadela trip

This past weekend from 12th to 15th of November, the park received a group of birders from the Centro de Estudos Ornitológico de São Paulo (CEO), to perform a census  on Saibadela Nucleus. With the help of the birding guides of the park, they managed to identify 148 species during the expedition, despite constant rain. Among the highlights were: Yellow-legged Tinamous vocalizing around the lodges, 2 Fasciated Tiger Herons at Quilombo River,  Ash-throated Crake, Blue-bellied Parrot,  Lesser Swalow-tailed Swift (first recording in the park), Azure Jay, Black-headed Berryeater, Salvadori's Antwren and Long-billed Wren.

 

Fasciated Tiger Heron at Quilombo River (by Betinho)

Ash-throated Crake (by Betinho)

 

Lodge

Park Ranger Station 

 

Here is a list with all species recorded during the trip.

 

 Solitary Tinamou

 Yellow-legged Tinamou

 Dusky-legged Guan

 Fasciated Tiger-Heron

 Striated Heron

 Cattle Egret

 Turkey Vulture

 Black Vulture

 Roadside Hawk

 Southern Caracara

 Yellow-headed Caracara

 Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail

 Ash-throated Crake

 Pied Lapwing

 Ruddy Ground-Dove

 Picazuro Pigeon

 Pale-vented Pigeon

 Plumbeous Pigeon 

 Gray-fronted Dove

 Ruddy Quail-Dove

 Maroon-bellied Parakeet

 Blue-winged Parrotlet

 Plain Parakeet

 Scaly-headed Parrot

 Blue-bellied Parrot

 Smooth-billed Ani

 Gray-rumped Swift

 Sick's Swift

 Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift (first record)

 Saw-billed Hermit

 Sombre Hummingbird

 Black Jacobin

 Black-throated Mango

 Violet-capped Woodnymph

 Versicolored Emerald

 Glittering-throated Emerald

 Amethyst Woodstar

 White-tailed Trogon

 Black-throated Trogon

 Green Kingfisher

 Crescent-chested Puffbird

 Channel-billed Toucan

 Ochre-collared Piculet

 White-spotted Woodpecker

 Green-barred Woodpecker

 Blond-crested Woodpecker

 Spot-backed Antshrike

 Plain Antvireo

 Star-throated Antwren

 Salvadori's Antwren

 Unicolored Antwren

 Rufous-winged Antwren

 Streak-capped Antwren

 White-shouldered Fire-eye

 Squamate Antbird

 Black-cheeked Gnateater

 Rufous-breasted Leaftosser

 Plain-winged Woodcreeper

 Olivaceous Woodcreeper

 White-throated Woodcreeper
 Lesser Woodcreeper
 Spix's Spinetail
 Yellow-chinned Spinetail
 Ochre-breasted Foliage-gleaner

 Black-capped Foliage-gleaner

 Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner
 Pale-browed Treehunter
 White-eyed Foliage-gleaner
 Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper

 Streaked Xenops
 Gray-hooded Flycatcher
 Sepia-capped Flycatcher

 Eye-ringed Tody-Tyrant
 Eared Pygmy-Tyrant

 Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher
 Gray-capped Tyrannulet
 Gray Elaenia
 Yellow-bellied Elaenia
 Sao Paulo Tyrannulet

 Yellow-olive Flycatcher

 White-throated Spadebill

 Whiskered Flycatcher

 Euler's Flycatcher

 Masked Water-Tyrant

 Long-tailed Tyrant

 Cattle Tyrant

 Piratic Flycatcher

 Social Flycatcher

 Great Kiskadee

 Three-striped Flycatcher

 Streaked Flycatcher

 Boat-billed Flycatcher

 Variegated Flycatcher

 Tropical Kingbird

 Fork-tailed Flycatcher

 Sirystes

 Short-crested Flycatcher

 Rufous-tailed Attila

 Gray-hooded Attila

 Black-headed Berryeater

 Bare-throated Bellbird

 Red-ruffed Fruitcrow

 Pin-tailed Manakin

 Blue Manakin

 Black-crowned Tityra

 White-winged Becard

 Crested Becard

 Red-eyed Vireo

 Azure Jay

 Grey-breasted Martin

 Southern Rough-winged Swallow

 Southern House-Wren

 Long-billed Wren

 Long-billed Gnatwren

 Yellow-legged Thrush

 Rufous-bellied Thrush

 Creamy-bellied Thrush

 White-necked Thrush

 Bananaquit

 Black-throated Grosbeak

 Olive-greenTanager

 Flame-crested Tanager

 Ruby-crowned Tanager

 Brazilian Tanager

 Sayaca Tanager

 Azure-shouldered Tanager

 Golden-chevroned Tanager

 Palm Tanager

 Green-headed Tanager

 Red-necked Tanager

 Swallow Tanager

 Green Honeycreeper

 Rufous-headed Tanager

 Rufous-collared Sparrow

 Saffron Finch

 Blue-black Grassquit

 Lined Seedeater

 Double-collared Seedeater

 Red-crowned Ant-Tanager

 Masked Yellowthroat 

 Golden-crowned Warbler

 White-browed Warbler

 Neotropical River Warbler

 Red-rumped Cacique

 Epaulet Oriole

 Violaceous Euphonia

 Golden-rumped Euphonia

 Chestnut-bellied Euphonia  

Pearl-breasted Cuckoo and Vinaceous Parrot around

Pearl-breasted Cuckoo and Vinaceous Parrot were spotted around the park's headquarters last week, both species are not common during the year, however since 2009 they have been seen occasionally in November.

New species in Intervales

 

A new species was spotted and photographed in front of Pica-pau Lodge this Sunday 23th, a male Black-faced Tanager,  was seen for the first time in Intervales at the feeder, along with some Chestnut-backed Tanager, Green-headed Tanagers and others. 

 

Swalow-tailed Cotinga preyed on the nest

As I have been posting recently the return of Swalow-tailed Cotinga, unfortunatelly last night the female was preyed on the nest, possibly by the Stygian Owl or any bat, now the male has taken over the proccess of incubating the eggs alone, leaving the nest unattended to feed.

Another visitor

Cinammon Tanager is a another visitor this breeding season, it was spotted and photographed about 1 km from the park's headquarters, despite it is already on the list it was seen very few times.

 

New summer visitor

A new interesting bird was seen for the first time around the park, it happend while driving from Ribeirão Grande to Intervales, after pulling out the road for a Streamer-tailed Tyrant on a pine tree, we noticed a pair of a greenish bird by the road on a grazing field, at the beginning we thought it was a Great Pampa-Finch, as this species had been seen previously, but in the end we noticed a different tail indicating that we were dealing with a new species. Lesser Grass-Finch is the new species listed for Intervales' buffer zone.

Lesser Grass-Finch

 

Streamer-tailed Tyrant

Swalow-tailed Cotinga back to Intervales

Here is one more shot of the Swalow-tailed Cotinga this time incubating the eggs, taken on October 10th, by our friend José Moreira from Guatemala. 

Black-legged Dacnis around

The Black-legged Dacnis is one of the most sought after bird here in Intervales, they can be easily seen during the breading season, especially in October, while gathering materials for the nest by the natural swimming pool, only last year  3 nests were found in the park, yesterday (October 10th) one of our guide reported its first sight (breeding season 2011), on a Bottlebrush tree. 

  

Swalow-tailed Cotinga back to Intervales

After few days of  work, one pair of the Swalow-tailed Cotinga have finished the nest, and the female is probably layng eggs by now, another pair is still building it. They always nest in the same place around the soccer field.

Grassland Yellow-Finch for the first time in the park

This is a pretty common bird out of the park, seen regularly in pasture lands (Ribeirão Grande Road), mainly from October to January when it is noticed by its calling. Here is a new twitching for the park, taken by the soccer field.

Swalow-tailed Cotinga back to Intervales

As I have previously posted, the Swalow-tailed Cotinga have returned to Intervales after 2 years with no sign, normally they arrive in mid-september to nest, and stay for 2 or 3 months every year. At least 6 individuals (3 pairs) were seen around the lodges in the central area of the park, one of them was gathering material for the nest. Here is a sequence o photos taken by Betinho.

(Male)

 

(Female)

Birding season 2011

During this birding season we had some remarkable views of the Black-faced Piping Guan (Carmo Road) six individuals were seen during a trip, feeding on palm tree reminding us the early 70's when it used to be seen in flocks of 10 individuals. Other interesting birds were: Swalow-tailed Cotinga, seen after 2 years without records in the Park, 4 Brown-backed Parrotlets passing by the central area of the park, and finally a pair of Curl-crested Jay on the way to Intervales (Ribeirão Grande Road)

Visualizar birding spots 2011 em um mapa maior

Stygian Owl again

This time the Stygian Owl was captured very close to Intervales main office, less than 100 m, this nice owl was perched during all day on the same place.

Eastern Slaty Thrush

The Eastern Slaty Thrush is a common visitor to the central area of the park,most heard than seen, untill 05/08/2011 there wasn't any documented recordings at all. but this time it was captured on the feeder.

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper is a new bird for Intervales buffer zone, the bird was seen by Betinho during a visit to a friend's property in a village nearby. Although the bird might be common in the rural areas around Capão Bonito and Ribeirão Grande, this was the first recording near Intervales.

 

Araucaria Tit Spinetail

This furnaridae is been seen recently in the central area of the park, due to a small forest of Araucaria angustifolia, that was planted in 1991, which is always associated with.

 

Stygian Owl

This owl came as a surprise to all of us here in the park, it had never crossed our minds to see this amazing bird just 100 meters from the Onça-pintada Lodge, in the central area of the park, this was the first documented recording for the species in the region.

(Photo by Luciano Monferrari)

4 days birding in Saibadela

From 23rd to 26th of June the park received a group of birdwatchers of the Centro de Estudos Ornitológico de São Paulo (CEO), along with the guides of the park, Luis and Betinho they carried out a survey on the species in Saibadela Nucleus wich is located in the municipality of Sete Barras. During the expedition 158 species were seen, in fact it wasn't the best time with a rainy Sunday, in spite of that the team had some remarkable birds such as: Yellow-legged Tinamou, Ornate Hawk-Eagle (flying over the Lodge), Azure Jay, Black-headed Berryeater, Russet-winged Spadebill and Long-billed Wren.

 

Here is a list with all species recorded during the trip.

 

Solitary Tinamou 

Brown Tinamou 

Yellow-legged Tinamou 

Dusky-legged Guan 

Black-fronted Piping-Guan 

Spot-winged Wood-Quail 

Striated Heron 

Cattle Egret 

Snowy Egret 

Turkey Vulture 

Black Vulture 

Gray-bellied Goshawk 

Mantled Hawk 

Roadside Hawk 

Black Hawk-Eagle 

Ornate Hawk-Eagle 

Southern Caracara 

Yellow-headed Caracara 

Collared Forest-Falcon 

Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail 

Southern Lapwing 

Ruddy Ground-Dove 

Plumbeous Pigeon 

Eared Dove 

White-tipped Dove 

Gray-fronted Dove 

Ruddy Quail-Dove 

Maroon-bellied Parakeet 

Blue-winged Parrotlet 

Plain Parakeet 

Scaly-headed Parrot 

Blue-bellied Parrot 

Smooth-billed Ani 

Mottled Owl 

White-collared Swift 

Gray-rumped Swift 

Saw-billed Hermit 

Sombre Hummingbird 

Black Jacobin 

Violet-capped Woodnymph 

Versicolored Emerald 

White-tailed Trogon 

Black-throated Trogon 

Amazon Kingfisher 

Rufous-capped Motmot 

Crescent-chested Puffbird 

Channel-billed Toucan 

Red-breasted Toucan 

Spot-billed Toucanet 

Ochre-collared Piculet 

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker 

Green-barred Woodpecker 

Blond-crested Woodpecker 

Robust Woodpecker 

Spot-backed Antshrike 

Tufted Antshrike 

Variable Antshrike 

Plain Antvireo 

Star-throated Antwren 

Unicolored Antwren 

Rufous-winged Antwren 

Scaled Antbird 

White-shouldered Fire-eye 

Squamate Antbird 

Black-cheeked Gnateater 

Slaty Bristlefront 

Serra do Mar Tapaculo 

Rufous-capped Antthrush 

Short-tailed Antthrush 

Rufous-breasted Leaftosser 

Olivaceous Woodcreeper 

White-throated Woodcreeper 

Planalto Woodcreeper 

Scalloped Woodcreeper 

Rufous Hornero 

Rufous-capped Spinetail 

Spix's Spinetail 

Yellow-chinned Spinetail 

Ochre-breasted Foliage-gleaner 

Black-capped Foliage-gleaner 

Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner 

Pale-browed Treehunter 

White-eyed Foliage-gleaner 

Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper 

Streaked Xenops 

Gray-hooded Flycatcher 

Sepia-capped Flycatcher 

Eye-ringed Tody-Tyrant 

Eared Pygmy-Tyrant 

Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher 

Rough-legged Tyrannulet 

Gray-capped Tyrannulet 

Gray Elaenia 

Sao Paulo Tyrannulet 

Oustalet's Tyrannulet 

Bay-ringed Tyrannulet 

Yellow-olive Flycatcher 

White-throated Spadebill 

Russet-winged Spadebill 

Bran-colored Flycatcher 

Whiskered Flycatcher 

Cliff Flycatcher 

Masked Water-Tyrant 

Long-tailed Tyrant 

Cattle Tyrant 

Great Kiskadee 

Boat-billed Flycatcher 

Tropical Kingbird 

Sirystes 

Gray-hooded Attila 

Hooded Berryeater 

Black-headed Berryeater 

Bare-throated Bellbird 

Red-ruffed Fruitcrow 

Pin-tailed Manakin 

Blue Manakin 

Sharpbill 

Chestnut-crowned Becard 

Rufous-crowned Greenlet 

Azure Jay 

White-rumped Swallow 

Southern House-Wren 

Long-billed Wren 

Yellow-legged Thrush 

Rufous-bellied Thrush 

White-necked Thrush 

Bananaquit 

Black-throated Grosbeak 

Green-winged Saltator 

Olive-green Tanager 

Black-goggled Tanager 

Flame-crested Tanager 

Ruby-crowned Tanager 

Brazilian Tanager 

Sayaca Tanager 

Azure-shouldered Tanager 

Golden-chevroned Tanager 

Palm Tanager 

Fawn-breasted Tanager 

Green-headed Tanager 

Red-necked Tanager 

Blue Dacnis 

Green Honeycreeper 

Rufous-headed Tanager 

Rufous-collared Sparrow 

Uniform Finch 

Saffron Finch 

Blue-black Grassquit 

Double-collared Seedeater 

Red-crowned Ant-Tanager 

Tropical Parula 

Masked Yellowthroat 

Golden-crowned Warbler 

Neotropical River Warbler 

Red-rumped Cacique 

Violaceous Euphonia 

Green-chinned Euphonia 

Chestnut-bellied Euphonia 

Great Horned Owl

The Great Horned Owl was also included on the list of the park on May 24th, spotted at about 1 km from the central area of the park, this is probably the largest owl on the list.

Striped Owl

Another new species captured by the lens of the guide Betinho, it was the first recording in Intervales.

 

Veery

This species of thrush was recorded by Betinho and Flavio just in front of the Pica-pau Lodge, feeding with other species, this is a uncommon visitor to the park wich migrates from the North hemisphere and the first documented recording for the region.

Vinaceou Parrot at Carmo Road

A pair of Vinaceous Parrot was seen by a group of birdwatchers at Carmo Road this month (November/2010), precisely at Cachoeira Água Comprida entrance, according to the information this species is common in Rio Turvo State Park (in large flocks), and comes over here during the breeding season to nest on the rocky cliff between Intervales and Petar.

Second Helmeted Woodpecker nest

A second Helmeted Woodpecker nest was found in Intervales, according to researchers, this is the third nest ever found in South America. A previous one had been found on last October.

 

Purple Galinule

The first documented recording for the Purple Galinule in Intervales, occurred in the central area of the park, around "quiosques - lago novo". In fact the bird had already been seen several times by the guides years ago.

First Helmeted Woodpecker nest found in Brazil

 

This month (October/2010), the birdwatcher guides of the park recorded the first Helmeted Woodpecker nest ever found in Brazil, this is the second nest ever found in South America for the species, the first one had been found in Missiones Argentina in 1985.