English - Chestnut-eared Aracari
Portuguese - Araçari-castanho
Latin - Pteroglossus castanotis
Is this a cool looking bird or what?? The first Chestnut-eared Aracari I photographed was at Parque das Aves, near Foz do Iguacu in the state of Parana. I know………..Parque das Aves is a bird park and some people may think it’s a bit cheeky to blog about wildlife that is in a bird park because it’s a controlled environment blah blah blah, but the thing I love about Parque das Aves is that it gives you an opportunity to get up close and personal with birds that you may never see in the wild. They have 2 giant aviaries in which you are able to walk around while Macaws and Toucans are flying around you and at times land beside you. A lot of the birds that I photographed at Parque das Aves I thought I would never see in the wild so that’s why I thought it was important for me to photograph. As it happened, I was lucky enough to photograph the Chestnut-eared Aracari in the Panatanal (photos 2,3,4) in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. We were driving along the state road, MS 184 which is a dirt road of 117 km on a hot but overcast day. We had stopped at one of the 74 wooden bridges along this road to see if there was anything interesting to photograph and in a tree beside a pond I heard some rustling. I couldn’t quite make out what is was at first as it was hiding behind branches, then it popped out and sat on a branch in the open. Managed to get quite a few shots of it before it got sick of being photographed and it flew away. I was happy to have photographed it at Parque das Aves but it’s always extra special seeing it in the wild.
* The Chestnut-eared Aracari is a medium size bird of around 47 cm in length and weighs around 310 gr.
* It is found in the SW of the Amazon Basin, Eastern Andean foothills, and South and East Colombia.
* It inhabits lakes and rivers, wet or flooded forests, wooded islands in rivers, swampy forest, etc.
* The Chestnut-eared Aracari is mainly a frugivore. However, it may also feed on flowers, nectar, insects, and is known to hunt nestling birds and eggs as well.
* The Chestnut-eared Aracari main call is a piercing and high-pitched “sneeep” or a longer “psheee-eep”.
* The female lays 2-4 white eggs which are incubated for two weeks. The young fledge one month after hatching.
* The Chestnut-eared Araçari is fairly common throughout its range, and can be found in several protected areas. However, numbers of the Chestnut-eared Aracari are thought to be declining. One major threat to them is that it is still being hunted by humans in part of its range. At this stage it is classified as a species “of least concern”.
English - Brassy-breasted Tanager
Portuguese - Saíra-lagarta
Latin - Tangara Desmaresti
The Brassy-breasted Tanager has to be one of the prettiest birds that I have photographed in Brazil. The photos of the Brassy-breasted Tanager were taken on a track on the way to Pedra Azul. As I was walking up the track a couple flew into a bush right beside where I was walking, so managed to get some close ups. The day was a bit over cast so the colours of the Brassy-breasted Tanager seem a bit flat so aren’t as bright as if the day was sunny but none the less the colours of this amazing wee bird are still obvious.
* The Brassy-breasted Tanager is a tiny bird of 13 cm and weighs approx. 21 gr.
* It is endemic to the mountains of southeastern Brazil.
* It is found mainly in humid pre-montane and montane forest and at forest edge.
* Calls are like a high, thin “tseee” or abrupt “tsit!”, either singly or repeated.
* You will mainly see them foraging with other species of Tanagers in mixed flocks.
* The Brassy-breasted Tanager diet consists of small fruits and insects.
* The female lays 2 and 3 eggs. Chicks are born after 15-17 days after the eggs are laid. The Chicks leave the nest after 20 days. The Brassy-breasted Tanager can have 2 to 3 broods per season
The Brassy-breasted Tanager does have a large range and its population seems to be stable at this stage therefore it is listed as a species “of least concerned” on the IUCN red list. Like a lot of other species though, The Brassy-breasted Tanager could be affected as deforestation continues.
English - Swallow-tailed Manakin
Portuguese - Tangará
Latin - Chiroxiphia caudata
This is a cool wee bird to photograph. It’s a bird that you will either hear first or spot a sudden movement in the bushes as it likes to dance around to attract a female. I photographed the Swallow-tailed Manakin while walking on the Waterfall trail (green trail) at REGUA. (Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu) I really enjoy going bush with the camera and photographing what’s there. The only downfall is that in most cases you are dealing with low light so you are working with slow shutter speeds. In this situation though I set the camera to an ISO of 1000 to try to freeze the motion to a point. In most cases this works but does create a bit of noise. (which can be reduceda bit in Post-Processing)
* The Swallow-tailed Manakin is also called the blue Manakin.
* A small bird of 15 cm in length, and weighs only 26 g.
* It is found in north-eastern Argentina, southern and south-eastern Brazil, and Paraguay.
* Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forest.
* Its diet consist of small fruits and insects, normally plucked or snatched usually in aerial sallies.
* Calls sounds like a double “ptuwa ptuwa”.
* Female lays 2 eggs, which are incubated for around 18 days. The Nestlings fledge after 20 days.
* The Swallow-tailed Manakin has a very wide range, is common and is presumed to have a large total population. The population trend is thought to be stable but in the future could suffer from habitat loss. The Swallow-tailed Manakin it is classified as a species of “least concern”.
