Author Archives: Tara

Cristalino Excursion #3 – The Canopy Tower

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Whether by chance or by design, Cristalino saved our best excursion for last – the stunning canopy tower!  It’s quite a hike to climb up, especially in the heat and humidity of the Brazilian rainforest, but well worth it.  The 360 degree views with birds flying everywhere has to be seen to be believed.  I hope that someday you will come here and see it for yourselves but for now see and believe these photos!

Red & Green Macaws

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Spangled Cotinga

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Kawall’s Parrot Fly by

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Blue Dacnis

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Paradise Tanager

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Failed attempt to find the Hawk-headed Parrot

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Madeira ParakeetC84 C85

Blue-headed Parrot

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Cuvier’s Toucan

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Blue-headed ParrotsCD06 CD07

White-bellied Parrot (Caique)

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Our guide, unfortunately after 3 years I can’t remember his name but he was excellent!

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Up To 3500 Bonus UA Miles For Dining Out (USA Only)

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Do you live in the USA and love dining out at restaurants?  Then this promo from United Mileage Plus is exactly what you are looking for!

UA Dining

You get the first 1000 miles simply by joining and filling out your profile whether you dine out or not.  I am not sure if non-USA people can do this as I used a USA address when I joined several years ago under a similar promo.  All restaurants are in the USA so you won’t get the miles unless you make a trip over there.

Be sure to read the full T&Cs on their website.

I wouldn’t start dining out if it wasn’t my habit to do so just for this promo but if it’s something you are going to do anyways, you might as well get miles for it!

Chestnut-fronted Macaw aka Severe Macaw (Ara severus)

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The Chestnut-fronted Macaw or Severe Macaw (Ara severus) is one of the largest of the mini-macaws. It reaches a size of around 45 cm (18 in) of which around half is the length of the tail.  I remember the time I first saw one at Cristalino.  I had been watching some other birds and the guide (knowing I was interested in parrots) tapped my shoulder and quietly said “Chestnut-fronted Macaws”.  I followed him to a large tree and looked up just in time to see the bird fly through the trees and disappear.  At least I got a quick glimpse!  But since I didn’t get a photo, Wikipedia has to come through.

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They do have a large range in South America and besides Cristalino, I have another chance to see them in Ecuador soon!

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LEARN MORE ABOUT CHESTNUT-FRONTED MACAWS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

Neotropical Birds

VIDEOS

Beautiful close-up foraging in a tree.

Huge flock in Brazil

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

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The Anhinga ( Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird. When swimming the origin of the name snakebird is apparent: only the colored neck appears above water so the bird looks like a snake ready to strike. They do not have external nares (nostrils) and breathe solely through their epiglottis.

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I’ve seen them sunning themselves with open wings while doing river trips in Peru – Tambopata & Brazil – Cristalino.  They have a large range throughout South America so would be widespread in any similar habitat.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT ANHINGAS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Audubon

VIDEOS

Interesting behaviour taken with a camera I just bought to supplement my Canon 60d

Spear-fishing

You can see them in Florida too!

 

 

Dusky-billed Parrotlet (Forpus modestus)

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The Dusky-billed Parrotlet (Forpus modestus), also known as the Sclater’s Parrotlet, is a small species of parrot in the Psittacidae family. It is found in the Amazon Rainforest in South America, where it is locally fairly common.

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They have a large range in South America which is split between central Brazil and Ecuador, Peru and Colombia.  They are very common in Cristalino and quite entertaining to watch!

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LEARN MORE ABOUT DUSKY-BILLED PARROTLETS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

VIDEOS

What a cute cluster!

Ground foraging

Foraging in a tree in a university campus.

 

Cristalino Excursion #2 – The Island

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Our 2nd excursion at Cristalino was in the afternoon of the 1st full day we were there (sadly we could only afford 2 nights).  We went in a small boat down river to an island called Ilha Ariosto in the middle of the river that had some amazing birdlife!  I wasn’t able to get photos of most of them as the sightings were mostly fly-bys.  I barely caught a glimpse of a Severe Macaw (Chestnut-fronted Macaw) as he zoomed overhead.  The Dusky-billed Parrotlets were a bit more co-operative with one posing on a branch.  There were quite a few other birds that I didn’t write down and it was especially nice to see hummingbirds out in the bush with no plastic feeders in sight.  We had been hoping for Umbrellabirds but coudn’t find any.

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Budgie-nado Bucket List

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This would be any birder’s dream – to see 1000’s of Budgerigars swarming everywhere!

Unfortunately the author/photographer didn’t specify where he saw them other than “Australian Outback” but I find it very interesting that he used Google Earth to locate the waterholes.  You can still use your miles to get to Australia and if you have American AAdvantage then book before 22 March devaluation.

I tried on eBird to find recent reports of huge flocks but there are just too many pins to look at them all.  This is one of my Australian Birding Bucket Lists!

Story & photos are copyrighted so please click here to see them.

I didn’t get the numbers but at least I saw them at Bowra Station!

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Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona)

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The Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) is a resident breeding bird in the lowlands of the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America to northern Argentina.  This large kingfisher breeds by streams.

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These birds have such a large range in South America you are bound to see them in any tropical rainforest near streams.  This one was in Cristalino.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT AMAZON KINGFISHERS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Neotropical Birds

VIDEO

This one clearly has something to say – probably “Go away and let me eat in peace”!

 

 

Red-and-green Macaw aka Green-winged Macaw (Ara chloropterus)

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The Green-winged Macaw (Ara chloropterus), also known as the Red-and-green Macaw, is a large mostly-red macaw of the Ara genus.  This is the largest of the Ara genus, widespread in the forests and woodlands of northern and central South America. However, in common with other macaws, in recent years there has been a marked decline in its numbers due to habitat loss and illegal capture for the parrot trade.  I haven’t been able to get a close-up shot in the wild so this photo is from the bird park near Iguassu Falls.

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All my other photos are more like this – macaws gracefully flying through the rainforest.

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They have a large range in South America and can be seen easily in the birding hotspots of Tambopata (clay licks), Pantanal & Cristalino.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT RED & GREEN MACAWS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

Neotropical Birds

VIDEOS

Loving couple

 

Red & Gren Macaws get along well with other large macaws and can often be seen flocking together, especially at clay licks.  This clip was taken at Manu and you can see them sharing a food table with other macaws.