Northeast Brazil is a land of outstanding contrast: from gorgeous white-sand beaches, to arid, cactus-topped plateaus, and the humid montane slopes in between. This region has all the beauty and diversity that any birder could ever hope for. Perhaps what this area is best known for, however, is the stunning array of beautiful endemics that flourish in the diverse habitats of Ceara, Pernambuco, Alagoas and Bahia. With this in mind, our tour explores all the best sites in this fascinating region and offers an impressive bird list that includes Lear’s (Indigo) Macaw, the striking Araripe Manakin and rare, White-collared Kite!
We begin in the state of Ceara, visiting Serra de Baturite for Grey-breasted Parakeet, Ceara Gnateater and Buff-breasted Tody-Tyrant, before heading to Quixada for the rarely recorded Pygmy Nightjar and White-browed Guan. Chapada do Araripe puts us in position for the recently described Araripe Manakin and other superb species such as White-browed Antpitta and Great Xenops in advance of our visit to Canudos for the Critically Endangered Lear’s Macaw! The birding continues apace, as we head to São Benedito do Sul for a plethora of sought-after species; Scalloped Antbird, incredibly adorned Seven-colored Tanager, Orange-bellied Antwren and Alagoas Tyrannulet. White-collared Kite, Forbes’ Blackbird, Pinto’s Spinetail and Yellow-faced Siskin make up the target species near Tamandare before we head to Estancia for the endangered Fringe-backed Fire-eye. The next featured location is one of the best birding sites in Brazil, Chapada Diamantina. Hailed as perhaps the most breathtakingly beautiful of all Brazilian National Parks, it hosts several localised endemics including Hooded Visorbearer, the recently described Sincorá Antwren, Grey-backed Tachuri and Diamantina Tapaculo.
As our tour draws to a close, we head towards the coast and Boa Nova. Located in the southwest of Bahia state where the Montane Atlantic forests meets Caatinga, this diverse location hosts over 430 bird species. Here we shall search diligently for the highly localised Slender Antbird, Narrow-billed Antwren, Bahia Spinetail and Pin-tailed Manakin. We then spend a few days in the delightful Serra Bonita Reserve, host to Pink-legged Graveteiro, Plumbeous Antvireo, Bahia Tyrannulet and Crescent-chested Puffbird before we end in the coastal lowlands of Porto Seguro where targets include White-winged Potoo, White-winged Cotinga, Bahia Antwren, Ochre-marked Parakeet, Red-browed Amazon and the rare Banded Cotinga. We finish the tour in Botumirim for the recently rediscovered Blue-eyed Ground Dove. There are few tours that can offer over 100 endemics in a matter of 24 days, but this tour of Northeast Brazil does just that!
Hooded Visorbearer, Horned Sungem, Blue-eyed Ground Dove, Frilled Coquette, Wied's Tyrant-Manakin, Rusty-margined & White-browed Guans, White-collared Kite, Harpy Eagle, White-necked & Mantled Hawks, Pernambuco Pygmy Owl, Lear’s (Indigo) & Blue-winged Macaws, Grey-breasted, Jandaya, Blue-throated, Plain, Golden-capped & Caatinga Parakeets, Red-browed & Scaly-headed Parrots, Golden-tailed Parrotlet, Gould’s Toucanet, Red-legged Seriema, Spot-winged Wood Quail, Pygmy, Scissor-tailed, Little & Rufous Nightjars, Ochraceous, Golden-spangled, Spotted & Tawny Piculets, Yellow-throated & Blond-crested Woodpeckers, Araripe, Band-tailed, Blue-backed, White-bearded, Red-headed, Blue & Kinglet (Eastern Striped) Manakins, Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin, White-winged & Banded Cotingas, Spot-backed Puffbird, Buff-breasted, Stripe-necked & Hangnest Tody-Tyrants, Yellow-eared Woodpecker, Rufous-breasted Leaftosser, Ceara Gnateater, Lesser & Plain-brown Woodcreepers, Broad-tipped Hermit, Diamantina & White-breasted Tapaculos, Hooded & Black-headed Berryeaters, Caatinga, Rufous-winged, Tufted, Silvery-cheeked, Sooretama Slaty, Rufous-capped, White-shouldered (distans subspecies) & Planalto Slaty Antshrikes, Willis’s, Stripe-backed, Slender, Rio de Janeiro, Ferruginous, Ochre-rumped, Scaled, White-bibbed & Scalloped Antbirds, Sincora, Streak-capped, Bahia, Rufous-winged, Band-tailed, Caatinga, Pectoral, Orange-bellied & Southern White-fringed Antwrens, White-browed Antpitta, Such’s Antthrush, Caatinga Cacholote, Collared Crescentchest, Eared & Rufous-sided Pygmy Tyrants, Cinnamon-vented Piha, Bahia Tyrannulet, Velvety-black Tyrant, Fork-tailed Tody-Tyrant, Grey-backed Tachuri, Greenish Schiffornis, Campo Oriole, Pale Baywing, Spix’s (Chicli), Grey-breasted, Bahia, Pallid, Ochre-cheeked, Red-shouldered, Sooty-fronted & Pinto’s Spinetails, Great Xenops, Ash-throated Casiornis, Smoky-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Forbes’ Blackbird, Bearded Bellbird, Pernambuco & White-collared Foliage-gleaners, Alagoas Tyrannulet, Hook-billed, Scale-throated, Broad-tipped & Margaretta’s Hermits, Long-tailed Woodnymph, Racket-tailed Coquette, Black-bellied Thorntail, Fringe-backed, White-shouldered & White-backed (pernambucensis subspecies) Fire-eyes, Grey-eyed Greenlet, Silver-breasted, Brazilian, Scarlet-throated & Seven-colored Tanagers, Black-billed Scythebill, Striated Softtail, Sharpbill, Blue Finch, White-throated Seedeater, Grey Pileated Finch, Yellow-faced Siskin, Red-cowled Cardinal.
humid and semi-deciduous forests, Atlantic Rainforest, Chapada, cloud forest, lowland forest, lowland Atlantic Rainforest, dry forest, scrub, caatinga and cerrado
warm to hot and humid, cooler in the higher lying areas
8 with 1 Rockjumper leader & local birding leader
Our Mega tours are very fast-paced birding adventures designed for the dedicated lister and serious birder. The focus of the tour is to see as many of the endemics and area specials as possible in our given time. In order to cover the necessary route to maximise the species list we tend to spend a single night at most sites and travel large distances. There is very little down time aside from that spent driving from one site to the next. These tours are not suitable for dedicated or avid photographers; inexperienced or new birders; as well as anyone with serious mobility or health challenges.
mostly comfortable, with some rustic locations
moderate with some tricky species
>450 with +-100 endemics
worthwhile, but limited by time
We had an unbelievably great tour. ALL the guides were extraordinary and fun to be around. They went out of their way to provide us non-birders with very interesting, novel activities. We all enjoyed seeing all the wildlife - it was beyond expectations. The 50th anniversary surprise was an unexpected, delightful treat. We don't know how the tour could have been any better.
The trip was excellent, and there is no praise too high for Stephan Lorenz!
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.
Overall we were very pleased with the trip. We have been to the tropics in various places in SA but hadn’t really experienced the heat of the Amazon. At first I was concerned about the siesta in early afternoon and the loss of bird time but by the third day I looked forward to it!! The lack of ant swarms, foliage-gleaners and mixed foraging flocks was disappointing. Some of the key target species had not been seen by local guides for several months to over a year. We hope it is not an on-going trend due to climate change but it may be. We felt fortunate to have had the opportunity and hope that others can continue to have this experience. We were pleased with the “tag-team effort” by Tuomas and Bradley. They worked well together with making sure the logistics flowed, everyone had their needs met as much as possible, and kept the pace moving. We were fortunate to have 8 people that had all travelled in groups before and were tolerant of various personalities and their strengths and weaknesses. Both Tuomas and Bradley were patient and talented in getting everyone (usually) in the group to see the target species. I will be giving a presentation to the local Audubon Chapter in November and will be recommending Rockjumper and their various trips to the group.
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.
18 Sep 2024 - 14 Oct 2024 (27 days)
BRL53,950 - No Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Lev Frid
Tour price (Per person): BRL53,950 * USD10,806 * GBP8,568 * EUR10,021 * AUD16,654
Single Supplement: BRL3,300 * USD661 * GBP524 * EUR613 * AUD1,019
17 Sep 2025 - 13 Oct 2025 (27 days)
BRL55,950 - Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Robert Williams
Tour price (Per person): BRL55,950 * USD11,207 * GBP8,886 * EUR10,393 * AUD17,272
Single Supplement: BRL4,600 * USD921 * GBP731 * EUR854 * AUD1,420
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