Photographer: Adam Riley   Destination: Brazil

While journeying through the open grasslands of Brazil, one has the opportunity to encounter the last remaining descendant of giant carnivorous flightless birds that lived more than 60 million years ago.

Walking like a crane with features not dissimilar to that of Africa’s Secretarybird, the Red-legged Seriema sports a distinctive fountain of long movable feathers that are located directly between its bill and eyes. These, along with many of the feathers on the head and neck, can be ruffled or smoothed into communicative facial expressions.

Sharing a similar ecological niche with the Secretarybird, seriemas feed on a variety of small animals including mammals, reptiles, and birds. Securing a meal in the savanna-like Cerrado is always a worthy achievement, although the way in which Red-legged Seriema’s go about dispatching their prey is somewhat reminiscent to a prehistoric predator. In a rather brutal interaction finality is achieved by slamming the prey item on the ground or on a hard surface such as a rock. This not only kills the prey but also helps to break up the bones so that it is easier to swallow in one gulp.

One of only two members of the Cariamidae family, which is confined to South America, the Red-legged Seriema is a striking, unmistakable bird of open woodland, thorny scrub, and hilly grassland. A good way to search for them is to listen out for their characteristic, loud, high-pitched yelps, which are often heard at dawn and can carry for a great distance. Of the two members in the family the Red-legged Seriema is far more widespread and common, occurring widely through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. Its counterpart, the Black-legged Seriema, is confined largely to Chaco woodlands in Paraguay, SE Bolivia and northern Argentina and is generally shyer and less regularly encountered.

As if the grasslands of South America were forgotten in time, another example of a taxonomic remnant of what walked these plains millions of years ago is the Giant Anteater, a truly magnificent species to see and one of the undoubted highlights of South America’s savanna zone. Incredibly, on its hind legs, this species would stand taller than a grown man, with huge claws and a two-foot-long tongue, which it uses to eat ants.

The Pantanal region of Brazil offers an extraordinary diversity of wildlife and is the perfect introductory tour to Brazil. The birding is phenomenal and includes highlights such as Hyacinth Macaw, Sunbittern, Sungrebe, Helmeted Manakin and even chances for Harpy Eagle while we also take time to seek out top mammals such as Jaguar, Giant Anteater, Ocelot, Southern Tamandua, Brazilian Tapir, Giant River Otter and more. These Pantanal tours can also be linked up with extensions to Iguazu Falls (certainly one of the most dramatic and beautiful series of cascades on the planet) while the birding opportunities in the surrounding Atlantic Rainforest are exceptional. On the other side of the Pantanal trips we also offer fantastic opportunities to explore parts of the Amazon, for more breathtaking biodiversity.

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