Few countries in the Americas hold more mystique and intrigue than the massive nation of Brazil. No feature on the continent of South America is more recognizable, more written about, or more wistfully contemplated than the mighty Amazon River. Despite this amazing river’s nearly 4000 miles of length, remarkably few ports of access exist. In fact, the entirety of the Amazon Basin, some 2,800,000 sq. miles (!), represents the largest contiguous area of intact rain forest, and least populated area, in the entire Western Hemisphere. No wonder the draw of the Amazon is irresistible to the nature-loving explorer in all of us! This tour is centred in the heart of the basin, in the states of Amazonas and Para, where we will access the entire suite of micro-habitats in the region. From the white water river islands and flooded varzea forests of the Amazonas and Negro river systems, across hilly terra firme, we will spend time in boats, and afoot, searching out the Amazon Basin’s most spectacular and iconic bird species. Wildlife possibilities range from Tapir and Pink River Dolphin to the elusive Jaguar. This tour is an in-depth exploration of the best Amazon birding has to offer.
Harpy and Crested Eagles, Black-faced & White Hawks, Lined Forest Falcon, Dark-winged & Grey-winged Trumpeter, Grey, Variegated & Rusty Tinamou, Little Chachalaca, Black Curassow, White-crested, Spix’s & Marail Guan, Horned Screamer, Azure Gallinule, Hoatzin, White-winged & Rufous Potoo, Black-bellied Cuckoo, Amazonian Pygmy Owl, Red-and-green Macaw, Scarlet-shouldered & Sapphire-rumped Parrotlet, Crimson-bellied, Santarem, Golden, Golden-winged & Tui Parakeet, Festive Amazon, Vulturine, Short-tailed, Caica, Dusky, Orange-cheeked, Black-headed & Red-fan Parrot, Guianan Puffbird, Guianan & Amazonian Trogon, Green-tailed & Paradise Jacamar, Black-spotted & Brown-chested Barbet, Red-necked & Green Aracari, Guianan & Gould’s Toucanet, Scaly-breasted, Red-necked, Golden-collared & Yellow-throated Woodpecker, Varzea Piculet, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Crimson Fruitcrow, Purple-breasted & Guianan Red Cotinga, Capuchinbird, Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, Glossy-backed Becard, Spangled & Pompadour Cotinga, Natterer’s Slaty, Saturnine, Cinereous, Castelnau’s, Glossy, Blackish-grey & Spot-winged Antshrike, Ash-winged, Pygmy, Spot-backed, Brown-bellied, Rufous-bellied, Long-winged, Klages’s, Leaden, White-eyed, Sclater’s, Ihering’s & Grey Antwren, Guianan Warbling, Willis’s, Black-and-white, Black-headed, White-plumed, Ash-breasted, Black-faced, Chestnut-crested, Ferruginous-backed, Rufous-faced, Harlequin & Xingu Scale-backed Antbird, Pale-faced Bare-eye, Alta Floresta, Variegated & Spotted Antpitta, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Long-billed, Zimmer’s, Red-billed, Ocellated, Uniform, Hoffmanns’s & Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper, Curve-billed Scythebill, Cinnamon-crested & White-crested Spadebill, Fiery-tailed Awlbill, Crimson Topaz, Black-eared Fairy, Racket-tailed Coquette, Olive-spotted Hummingbird, Parker's, Red-and-white, White-bellied & chances for Scaled Spinetail, Lesser Hornero, Brownish Elaenia, Pearly-breasted Conebill, White-eyed Attila, Screaming Piha, Tiny & Saffron-crested Tyrant-Manakin, White-throated, White-fronted, Black, Snow-capped, Flame-crested & Yellow-crested Manakin, Wing-banded Wren, Masked Yellowthroat, Guianan & Chestnut-belted Gnateater, Guianan Tyrannulet, Painted Tody-Flycatcher (Tody-Tyrant), Pelzeln’s, Zimmer’s & Snethlage’s Tody-Tyrant, Short-tailed & Double-banded Pygmy Tyrant, Slaty-capped Shrike-Vireo, Rose-breasted Chat, Red-billed Pied Tanager, Fulvous Shrike-Tanager, Paradise, Flame-crested, Fulvous-crested and Spotted Tanager, Golden-sided Euphonia, Blue-black (Rothschild’s) & Yellow-green Grosbeak
Brazilian Tapir, Giant Otter, chances for Pink River Dolphin & Jaguar
lowland rain forest, varzea, terra firme forest, Campina forest, white-water & black-water river islands, rivers
warm to hot and humid
8 with 1 Rockjumper leader & local birding leader
moderate pace, some longer walks
basic to comfortable
moderate with numerous challenging species
450+
good
Rob Williams was helpful above and beyond the call by going out of his way to make it an enjoyable tour.
Very productive and relaxing tour
This was my second trip with Dusan and like the first trip, he made sure everyone was looked after to the best of his abilities and was always attentive to peoples differing needs. He worked extremely well with our local guide, who himself was attentive to everyone, and they both tried hard to get everyone onto the birds. No complaints to them whatsoever. I would be very happy to bird with Dusan again and probably will.
I had the very best time on tour with Stephan. He is an excellent leader and a lovely, kind human being. In terms of his technical ability as a birding leader, his eyesight and hearing skills are excellent, which coupled with his first class fieldcraft and ID skills, meant that we saw/heard over 500 species during our tour. He also gelled well with the local guide Caio , so that in terms of finding, IDing and showing the birds to the group, we were treated to splendid views of our target species plus many many 'bonus birds' too. Stephan was also very patient with group members, some of whom for a variety of personal reasons, were less able to see the birds than the majority of the group-so that wherever possible-every group member who wanted to, had the opportunity to see every bird.
WOW – this was an entirely different trip than the main trip. The Pousada facility was a little more rustic than some of the other accommodations but nothing we couldn’t handle. It was certainly better than a hammock at the guard headquarters which Bradley indicated was the only thing available prior to Pousada. This portion required what seemed like a lot more walking and climbing over tree falls than anywhere else on the trip. It seemed that more of the birds were skulkers but then we were focusing on “ant-somethings” which are notoriously secretive. Again, it was disappointing there was not a single ant swarm and the mixed flocks were generally small and moved away from the trails fairly quickly. It was also frustrating that the best of the three trails (Capelinha) in the park was not available to us due to an on-going mammal-use survey. But, none of these things were within the control of Tuomas, Bradley, or our local guide. They were pros at adapting and modifying to take advantage of the trails that were available to us. By my count the main trip list was about 446 and we gained 81 sp on the extension, however, 40% of those were lifers, so worth the effort and expense, in my opinion. Our local guide, Gilberto, was indispensable. His recent knowledge was invaluable to know where to go for the target species.
Tour Leader: Dušan Brinkhuizen
Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated and dates may change*
Tour price (Per person): USD9,000 * GBP7,184 * EUR8,379 * AUD13,744
Can be linked with: Brazil - Amazonia NP Extension 2025
Brazil - Atlantic Coastal Forest I 2024 - January 2024
Brazil - Atlantic Coastal Forest II 2023 - October 2023
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension (Small Group) 2023 - September 2023
Brazil - Northeast - Mega Birding Tour 2023 - September 2023
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado (Small Group) 2023 - September 2023
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension II 2023 - September 2023
Brazil - Madeira & Tapajós endemics of the Rio Aripuanã (TM) 2023 - August 2023
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado II 2023 - August 2023
Brazil - Atlantic Coastal Forest I 2023 - January 2023
Brazil - Southeast - Mega Extension 2022 - October 2022
Brazil - Atlantic Coastal Forest II 2022 - October 2022
Brazil - Southeast - Mega Birding Tour 2022 - October 2022
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension (Small Group) I 2022 - September 2022
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado (Small Group) I 2022 - September 2022
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension II 2022 - September 2022
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado II 2022 - August 2022
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado I 2022 - August 2022
Brazil - Amazon Rainforest Birding Extension (Small Group) II 2022 - July 2022
Brazil - Birds & Wildlife of the Pantanal & Cerrado (Small Group) II 2022 - July 2022
Brazil - Northeast - Mega Birding Tour 2019 - September 2019