English                        -               Black-crowned night Heron 

 Portuguese               -                Savacu

Latin                           -                Nycticorax nycticorax

Seen by day, these chunky herons seem dull and lethargic, with groups sitting hunched and motionless in trees near water. They become more active at dusk, flying out to their foraging sites. Some studies suggest that they feed at night because they are dominated by other herons and egrets by day. 

Adults are approximately 64 cm long and weigh 800 g. They have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. They have pale grey wings and white under parts. The sexes are similar in appearance although the males are slightly larger. Black-crowned night herons do not fit the typical body form of the heron family. They are relatively stocky with shorter bills, legs, and necks than their more familiar cousins, the egrets and “day” herons. Their resting posture is normally somewhat hunched but when hunting they extend their necks and look more like other wading birds. Immature birds have dull grey-brown plumage on their heads, wings, and backs, with numerous pale spots. Their underparts are paler and streaked with brown. The young birds have orange eyes and duller yellowish-green legs. They are very noisy birds in their nesting colonies, with calls that are commonly transcribed as quok or woc.

The Black-crowned Night Heron is found in most parts of the world except for Australasia and Antartica. They tend to live on vegetated margins of shallow freshwater or brackish rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, marshes, swamps, mangroves, and mud flats. It often feeds from on top of aquatic vegetation, for example on kelp beds 500 m offshore in the Falklands. It also uses grasslands and coastal habitats, especially on migration, and high mountains, nesting to 4800 m in Chile – exceptional for a heron. The species frequently, perhaps characteristically, uses human-made habitats. These include pastures, ponds, reservoirs, canals, ditches, fish ponds, rice fields, wet crop fields, and dry grasslands.

They eat mostly fish, but will also eat squid, crustaceans, aquatic insects, frogs, snakes, clams, mussels, rodents, carrion. Sometimes specialises on eggs and young birds, and can cause problems in tern colonies.

They usually first breeds at the age of 2 years. Breeds in colonies. Males choose the nest site and displays there to attract a mate. Displays include stretching neck up and forward with feathers ruffed up and slowly bowing while raising feet alternately, giving hissing buzz at lowest point in bow. Nest sites vary from ground sights to high in trees, shrubs, marsh vegetation. The nest is built mostly by the female with materials supplied by the male and is a platform of sticks. They can lay between 1 - 7 pale green eggs. The eggs are incubation by both sexes for 21 to 26 days.  Young clamber about the nest for the first 4 weeks and are fed by both parents by regurgitation. The chicks are able to fly at about 6 weeks. After 6-7 weeks, may follow parents to foraging areas and beg to be fed there.

Populations had probably declined in the 20th century owing to habitat loss and then in the mid 20th century, effects of DDT and other persistent pesticides. Following the banning of DDT in parts of the world, many local populations have increased in recent years. Water pollution is still a problem in some areas, but overall the population seems to be stable and in some parts of its range areis increasing.

Photo # 1 is of an Adult and was taken at Ilha do Frade - Vitoria - Espirito Santo

Photo # 2 is of a Juvenile and was taken at Passeio Publico - Curitiba - Parana

English - Red-legged Seriema 

Portuguese - Seriema 

Latin - Cariama cristata 

The Red Legged Seriema is an unusual bird, found in South America, from Brazil, south of the Amazon River to Uruguay and northern Argentina. They are thought to be a relative of the crane, but could also be closely related to Cuckoos, Falcons, or Parrots. It is still a widely disputed question. 

They are around 75 to 90 cm in length and weighs about 1.5 kg, with a fairly long neck, tail, and legs. The plumage is medium brown above with black markings; pale brown on the head, neck, and breast; and white on the belly. The tail has a black band near the tip and a white tip. The beak and legs are red, and the eyes are yellow. Soft feathers emerge from the base of the bill to form a fan-shaped crest. Both sexes are similar but the male is larger. The immature resembles adult with more strongly marked head, neck and back.

The Red-legged Seriema is an omnivore but also highly carnivorous. This species feeds mainly on arthropods and insect larvae, reptiles and small vertebrates including rodents. Occasionally, it also feeds on plant matter such as various crop seeds, fruits and tree gum. This large bird often feeds alone or in pairs, but also in small family groups according to the season. This terrestrial bird feeds by walking slowly, taking preys from the ground or the low vegetation. Its cryptic plumage allows it to remain concealed. The small vertebrates are caught with the bill, then beaten to death against the hard ground, and finally torn into pieces with help of bill and claws, before being swallow. 

The breeding season involves courtship displays by the males. These displays are similar to those of some Phasianidae species when the male exposes the barred flight feathers by lateral stretching. And when it twists its wings, it acts similair to some Otididae species. Another display shows the male performing a ceremonial strutting walk while it raises the nuchal crest with the bill pointing downwards. In this period, their songs can be heard before dawn. The breeding season varies according to the range, but often occurs during the rainy season. This species is a solitary nester and monogamous. The nest is built by both sexes on branches of small trees. This is a round structure made with sticks and twigs, and lined with leaves, mud or cattle dung. It is placed about 1 to 5 metres above the ground. The female lays two white eggs with some weak markings. The incubation lasts 25-30 days, mainly by the female. The chicks have long pale brown feathers on the head. Both parents feed them. They leave the nest two weeks after hatching, and follow their parents on the ground. They fledge at one month. They need 4-5 months to gain the adult plumage. 

The Red-legged Seriema is famed for its call. It is often compared to the sound of a puppy yelping, but much louder, as the call can be heard from several kilometers away. They usually call in the early-to-mid morning, but it can be heard at any time of day and even after dark. The song is used to define territory between pairs. The call is often a duet between members of a pair, and consists of three parts. These parts are not necessarily sung together. When the Seriema begins to sing, it holds it head straight, but by the end of its song (which is the loudest part) the head is held so far back that it nearly touches the bird’s back.

The Red-legged Seriema is a widespread species, but at low densities. It suffers habitat degradation by human development, but it is able to adapt to new situations. According to it’s range, this bird can be hunted for meat, or protected by farmers because it is a consumer of reptiles and rodents. They have benefited from deforestation, allowing them to expand their habitat. This species breeds well in captivity, and is not currently a threatenedn species.

Photos of the Red-legged Seriema were taken at Parque das Arves - Foz do Iguacu - Parana 

English - Coati 

 Portuguese - Quati 

 Latin - Nasua nasua 

Coatis are related to the raccoon family. The name ‘coati’ comes from native American Indian word meaning ‘belt’ and ‘nose’, referring to the way coatis tuck their nose into their belly while sleeping. 

They are found in most parts of South America and can be found in a wide range of forest habitats, even in high altitudes of up to 2500m above sea level. 

Adult coatis measure 33 to 69 cm from head to the base of the tail, which can be as long as their bodies. They are about 30 cm tall at the shoulder and weigh between 2 and 8 kg, about the size of a large house cat. Males can become almost twice as large as females and have large, sharp canine teeth. They have a slender head with an elongated, flexible, slightly upward-turned nose, small ears, dark feet, and a long, non-prehensile tail used for balance and signalling. Coatis have a long brown tail with rings on it which are anywhere from starkly defined like a raccoon’s to very faint. They often hold the tail erect; it is used as such to keep troops of coatis together in tall vegetation. Coatis have non-retractable claws and are also double-jointed as their ankles can rotate beyond 180°; they are therefore able to descend trees head first. The coati snout is long and somewhat pig-like, part of the reason it has a nickname ‘the hog-nosed raccoon’. It is also extremely flexible – it can be rotated up to 60° in any direction. They use their noses to push objects and rub parts of their body. The facial markings include white markings around the eyes and on the ears and snout. Coatis have strong limbs to climb and dig and have a reputation for intelligence, like their fellow Procyonidae, the raccoon. They prefer to sleep or rest in elevated places and niches, like the rainforest canopy, in crudely built sleeping nests. Coatis are active day and night. In the wild, coatis live for about 8 / 9 years, while in captivity they can live for up to 15 / 16 years. 

Coati breeding season mainly corresponds with the start of the rainy season to coincide with maximum availability of food, especially fruits, between January and March in some areas, and between October and February in others. During the breeding season, an adult male is accepted into the band of females. The pregnant females separate from the group, builds a nest in a tree or in a rocky niche and, after a gestation period of about 11 weeks, give birth to a litter of three to seven kits. About six weeks after birth, the females and their young will rejoin the band. Females become sexually mature at two years of age, while males will acquire sexual maturity at three years of age. 

 Coatis are omnivores; their diet consists mainly of ground litter invertebrates, such as tarantula, and fruit They also eat small vertebrate prey, such as lizards, rodents, small birds, birds’ eggs, and crocodile eggs. The snout, with an acute sense of smell, assists the paws in a hog-like manner to unearth invertebrates. They are also known to snatch food from picnic tables as we witnessed in Foz de iguacu. (photos 3 & 4) 

Coatis are not listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List so they are safe for now, but in some places, where their forest homes are being destroyed, they may be at risk.  

Photos of the Coatis were taken at Cataratas de Iguacu Brazil