English            -             Peach-fronted Parakeet

Portuguese    -             Jandaia-Coquinho

Latin                -            Eupsittula aurea

I photographed the Peach-fronted Parakeet on a road side just south of a town called Miranda (2,136 km west of Vila Velha) in Mato Grosso do Sul. We were traveling down a dirt road when we stopped to photograph something else drinking at a water hole, when I noticed the Peach-fronted Parakeet sitting in a tree on the other side of the road. It was a bright sunny hot day but unfortunately the sun was shinning into the camera so the colours of the Peach-fronted Parakeet aren’t as obvious. There was a small flock of them that appeared to be grooming themselves in the tree. They didn’t seemed to concerned by my presents.

* The Peach-fronted Parakeet is also  known as the peach-fronted conure.

* It has an average length of around 25 cm and weighs around 105 g.

* it is found in Suriname, south to northern Argentina, and west to extreme southeastern Peru. 

* Its natural environment is savanna, gallery forest and the cerrado of south America. 

* The Peach-fronted Parakeet has a type of nasal “rreh” sound. Mostly heard in flight.

* The female lays 2 to 4 eggs which are incubates for 26 days. The nestlings fledge after 52 days. 

* The Peach-fronted Parakeet is not globally threatened and with a large range and abundant numbers, the Peach-fronted Parakeet is classified as a species ”of least concern”. 

English             -               Yellow-eared Woodpecker

Portuguese     -                Picapauzinho de Testa Pintada

Latin                -                 Veniliornis maculifrons

As like most woodpeckers I have come across here in Brazil, I heard the Yellow-eared Woodpecker before I saw it. I was walking along the wetlands (Yellow trail) at REGUA (Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu) on a bright sunny day when I started hearing a tap tap tapping in some trees close to the waters edge. After hearing the tapping I went into “Marc’s stealth mode” and I managed to get quite close to it and snap some photos. I think it was aware I was there but didn’t seem to mind as I was able to observe it for quite along time. Always happy to photograph a member of the woodpecker family.

* The Yellow-eared Woodpecker is a  little-known species in terms of its biology.

*  It is a smallish bird with a length of around 15cm.

* It’s call is a series of long vibrating sonorous “ew” notes, rising and then falling.

* It is endemic to Brazil and only found in the humid Atlantic rainforest in the east of the country. 

* It’s habitats includes secondary and primary forest areas in lowlands and foothills of the Atlantic rainforest.

* Diet includes insect larvae, invertebrates and some fruits.

* The Yellow-eared Woodpecker It makes its nest by making holes in trunks and branches of dead trees and palm trees, where it lays its eggs. No other info on it’s breeding habits.

* The Yellow-eared Woodpecker is a very little-known woodpecker. Not globally threatened, even though it is a restricted-range species. Number are thought to be stable but can come under pressure from deforestation. The Yellow-eared Woodpecker is classified at this stage as a species ”of least concern”. 

English             -             Crested Oropendola

Portuguese     -             Japu

Latin                -             Psarocolius decumanus

I have photographed the Crested Oropendola in 2 different locations around Brazil. The first time was in the west of the country and the second time was in the east of the country. The first location (photo No 1) was on a farm we visited called Pousada São João Ecotour, in the Pantanal. Even though it’s a pousada, where you can stay and see amazing wildlife,  it is also a working farm where you can get to see real live ”vaqueros” in action. Photographing the Crested Oropendola was a fleeting moment as I was under a tree, tying to keep cool from the 37 degree temperature that day and I noticed the Crested Oropendola landed above me. Managed to take a couple of photos before it flew away. The second time I photographed it (photo No 2) was on the other side of the country, near a town called Itacare, in the state of Bahia. We had just finished a day tour to a waterfall and a “remote” beach and we were walking down a track back to the our tour van when our guide pointed out a colony of Crested Oropendola nesting in a tree. They were quite hard to photograph as they were high, I had to point the camera upwards and with the weight of the camera + lens found it hard to keep it steady.

* The Crested Oropendola also known as the Suriname crested oropendola or the corn-bird.

* It is a medium-sized bird with a length of around 43 cm and weighs around 300g.

* The Crested Oropendola is almost silent outside the breeding season.  During breeding and nesting periods though  they can let out a “cr-crreeeEEEooooooooooo” like sound. 

* It is a resident breeder in South America east of the Andes, from Panama and Colombia, southwards to northern Argentina, 

* It lives in forest edges and clearings. It can be found in cultivated areas and plantations, and at the edges of mature tropical forests. Its habitat may be variable, but it needs tall nesting trees for nesting.

* It’s diet includes large insects, lizards, frogs, mice, millipedes, spiders, eggs, fruit and some nectar.

* Female lays 1 or 2 eggs. Incubation lasts about 19 days. Young fledge about 39 days after hatching. 

* Nests of the Crested Oropendola can be parasitised by Giant Cowbirds and Shiny Cowbirds.

* The Crested Oropendola is not endangered. Populations are stable but not so big. Their tropical habitat is regularly being reduced by human developments but they can adapt to new habitat. They are classified as a species ”of least concern”.