The Pantanal: much more than a jaguar paradise

Money for nothing and chicks for free, runs a song by the group Dire Straits: when Surya Ramachandran, friend and naturalist, offered us a chance to join him to see the jaguar for virtually “nothing” and a whole bunch of other charismatic South American birds thrown in “for free”, I made my down payment on the spot!

We landed in Rio de Janeiro with the iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer blessing us from above and took a detour from city sightseeing for a short walk along the coastal cliff at Pista Claudio Coutinho. As Black Vultures and Magnificent Frigatebirds dotted the sky overhead, a Brown Booby perched comfortably on a rock and a Short-tailed Hawk made sallies into our field of view. Marmosets (White and Black Tufted) allowed us to get almost within touching distance on the trail. Promising start in the middle of the city!

White-tufted Marmoset

Christ the Redeemer towers over Rio

Next morning we set off driving to Sao Paulo via the coastal town of Ubatuba. The verdant Atlantic forest, a moist broadleaf forest that extends all along the east coast of Brazil, was the setting for some vivid forest birding in the morning. The sun glinted orange off the eye of the Orange-eyed Thornbird and accentuated the colors on a Green-backed Trogon. Brightly colored tanagers (Brazilian, Green-headed, Red-necked and Ruby-crowned) and Euphonias (Violaceous and Chestnut-bellied) lit up the forest. In ascending order of charisma were three endemic woodpeckers: Yellow-eared, Yellow-fronted and the big Blond-crested. We spent a good amount of time searching for the lovely Ferruginous Antbird, but got good photos only of the Chestnut-backed Antwren. The frog-like call of the Spot-billed Toucanet finally led us to this endemic pocket sized customer. Even more range restricted exclusively to the Brazilian Atlantic coastline forest was the Black-hooded Antwren. A Swallow-tailed Manakin showed up with its unbelievable tricoloration. In case you're surprised by the numerous “ant” prefixed birds, they are all part of the antbird family of Central and South American birds that follow ant swarms which in turn flush out their insect menu. Next up was a stop at a feeder station where sugar filled bottles and strategically placed fruit attracted a wide variety of hummingbirds and tanagers: a thrilling experience the first time you go to one. Considering that only about 15% of the original forest remains, imagine how the area would have looked prior to extensive human development.

Red-rumped Cacique

Red-necked Tanager

Palm Tanager

Orange-eyed Thornbird

Green-headed Tanager

Green-backed Trogon

Verdant Atlantic broadleaved forest

Atlantic forest

Chestnut-bellied Euphonia

Chestnut-backed Antshrike

Brazilian Ruby

Amethyst Woodstar

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker

White-barred Piculet

Violaceous Euphonia

Versicolored Emerald

Streaked Flycatcher

Spot-breasted Antvireo

Sp

Spot-billed Toucanet

Saw-billed Hermit

Our main destination was of course the Pantanal (translates to abundant swamp in Portuguese), approached by flight from Sao Paulo to the town of Cuiaba. At more than 150,000 sq km, it is the world's largest flooded grassland and is both a Ramsar Wetland and a UNESCO world heritage site and constitutes an internal river delta that floods over annually after it receives runoff from the surrounding mountains and slowly drains into the Paraguay River. We drove southwest along the arrow straight road to the town of Pocone, surrounded by flat cattle pastures, and on to the Pousada Piuval Ranch. Brazil's beef industry drives its economy but has turned vast tracts of forest and grassland into pastures.

Dry, dusty, open and hot was the Pantanal, a totally different habitat from the Atlantic rainforest. Capybaras, looking like pigs but actually the world’s largest rodents and closely related to guinea pigs, dotted the river banks. Capuchin monkeys peeked at us from overhead, a South Amercian Coati leisurely crossed the road and climbed a tree, while a Crab-eating Fox trotted across a little more quickly. A huge male Greater Rhea, the largest bird in South America, was accompanied by as many as 23 chicks: unusually it is the male of the species that rears the young. Surely the poster boy for Father's Day!  A Great Potoo, a South American counterpart to our Indian frogmouth, was totally indistinguishable from the trunk it slept on. Noisy Chaco Chachalacas were everywhere as were Chestnut-bellied Guans, and the bigger White-throated Piping-Guans. Savannah and Roadside Hawks and Plumbeous Kites patrolled the sky above and Crested Caracaras the ground below. The setting sun caught a Bat Falcon on top of a tree. The night trail on the way back threw up some nocturnal denizens: Striped Owl, Common Paurauque and a Tarantula. Dinner tasted extra tasty today!

 

South American Coati

Burrowing Owl

White-eyed Parakeets

Tarantula

Striped Owl

Savanna Hawk

Rufescent Tiger Heron juvenile

Roadside Hawk

Red-legged Seriema

Red-billed Scythebill

Plumbeous Ibis

Muscovy Duck

Greater Rhea with his chicks

Great Potoo

Common Paurauque

Caiman

We left at the crack of dawn to see the Giant Anteater, surely one of the most unusually shaped mammals on our planet. And sure enough, we caught mom foraging on the jungle floor with baby on back, followed by another prolonged sighting of a solitary anteater. Toco Toucans with their distinctive outsized orange bill grunted away from the trees above. A pair of terrestrial Bare-faced Curassows crossed the road and Guira Cuckòos showed off their punk hairstyle. Owls perch on trees and are active at night, but burrowing into the ground and brightly active by day? Yes, if you're the Burrowing Owl. Now and then birding offers times when species appear so fast and furious that you get confused and unable to register Nature's variety. We had one such moment: the one bird which remained frozen in memory among the fifteen or so new species was the Red-billed Scythebill, with its spectacular decurved bill. The turquoise eye-shadow of the Amazonian Motmot was worth risking heat exhaustion while trekking into the forest, and the Blue-crowned Trogon was not far behind.  The world's largest macaw, the Hyacinth Macaw and a pair of massive Jabiru Storks shared nests on the same tree, with Monk Parakeets freeloading on the underside of the huge Jabiru nest.

Toco Toucan

Crested Caracara

Giant Anteater

Carrying baby on back

 

An unseasonal thundershower dimmed our spirits a bit but did cool temperatures by a good ten degrees and eliminated the swirling dust. The rains drove innumerable Yacare Caimans onto the shore: guess their cold blood preferred the warm land to the colder water. A Common Potoo was completely indistinguishable from the home stump it was perched on, untroubled by the drizzle. Neither were a pair of Sunbitterns (who refused to fly to show us their lovely wing plumage) at a forest pool.

Sunbittern

Common Potoo

Hyacinth Macaw

Hyacinth Macaw

Swallow-tailed Flycatcher

Why another 5 am start, we groaned, having seen the Giant Anteater twice yesterday. What could get even better? The Southern Tamandua! This smaller arboreal anteater crossed the road, stood on its hind legs, climbed a tree and totally enthralled us before making its way into thicker forest. A Pampas deer and Azara's Agouti reminded us that lesser mortals among the mammals exist. Then it started raining charismatic woodpeckers: rather similar large Cream-colored and Pale-crested on the same tree followed by a huge red-headed Lineated chasing a smaller White-fronted off its perch. We had to drag ourselves off to our next destination.

Southern Tamandua

Campo Flicker

Cream-colored Woodpecker

Pale-crested Woodpecker

White-fronted Woodpecker

Driving further south along the unpaved Trans-Pantaneira Highway, we stopped for a day at Pouso Allegre Ranch. The forest was much denser here with less open savanna: a Gray Brocket Deer peered cautiously at us and a couple of White-collared Peccaries scampered away. A Southern Screamer, a most unusual looking (and named) goose like bird flew away nervously from us. A Capped Heron clearly won the prize for best looking heron. Black-and-gold Howler Monkeys dangled on branches with their prehensile tails and a Hooded Capuchin monkey chewing on a frog for lunch made for a great photo op. Black-tailed Marmosets with their long black tail peeked out from a tree and uttered their screeching call. An Orange-backed Troupial was literally like an orange flare on a green background: equally eye-catching was a Red-crested Finch in the evening glow. A Red-footed Tortoise barely moved as we approached it. A night trail brought forth its own creatures: the Ocelot, a miniature jaguar and its equal in feline grace, Crab-eating Foxes and Brazilian Tapirs. The latter are a curious mixture of elephant with a sawed-off trunk and hippo, active at night and rarely visible in the day. Caimans were everywhere, even well away from water bodies, perhaps due to the rain the previous day. Caiman-cabana was the name coined by our guide Fernandao for the eerie sight of thousands of eyes reflecting off our torches!

Brazilian Tapir

Caimans were everywhere, well away from a waterbody

Ocelot

Ocelot

Orange-backed Troupial

Pampas Deer

Amazon Kingfisher

Black-tailed Marmoset

Black-tailed Marmoset

Crab-eating Fox

Yellow-billed Cardinal

Bare-faced Curassow

Chaco Chachalaca

Common Potoo

Crested Caracara

Great Black Hawk

Purplish Jay

On South we dove, to Port Joffre on the river Cuiaba, the gateway to river safaris in the Pantanal. Jetting on a speedy motor boat in search of the jaguar, otters and other charismatic large mammals temporarily relegated birding to a backseat. After all, this part of the Pantanal boasts the highest density of jaguars worldwide. And sure enough, drama unfolded. A group of capybaras on the water’s edge seemed oblivious to the jaguar watching them for long from behind tall grass: but once they detected a slight movement, their alarm woofs rang out loud and into the river they dived and scattered! Knowing the game was up, the lord of the Pantanal swam away disdainfully across the river, allowing us to get a video. We branched off into the Corisho Negro for some relaxed birding: a Black-collared Hawk and Ringed Kingfisher at very close quarters, Anhingas spreading their wings out to dry and Black Skimmers delightfully skimming fish off the water surface. Peaceful birding was rather short lived when news of a jaguar sighting came through and a frantic dash to the spot resulted in a mother of all sightings (literally) with her two grown cubs gamboling in the river and then crossing it!

We did party a bit in the evening. 

Back on the river next morning, we were greeted by a little green gem, the Rufous-tailed Jacamar. The morning jaguar we promptly saw, seemed content with just looking back at us for a good half an hour: seemingly no caimans were readily accessible for breakfast and when he dozed off, we reluctantly moved on. Ospreys dive-bombed for fish while a Rufescent Tiger Heron's stealth strategy allowed us to capture the piranha impaled in its beak. A Scarlet-headed Blackbird drew oohs and aahs in contrast to the neighboring Unicolored Blackbird. A Yellow-rumped Cacique watched over its weaverbird like nest. A Cocoi Heron wondered how to swallow the huge loach it had speared without rupturing its foodpipe before it somehow managed to.

Black-collared Hawk

Ringed Kingfisher

Anhinga

Jaguar news led to an abrupt F1 type zigzag dash in our powerful motor boat down river: birding may be a relaxed pastime but jaguar watching can be thrill a minute. Swimming seemed to be the preferred transport mode near the river for this powerful feline: her jump this time narrowly missed a caiman. As she drew herself on to the river bank and shook off the water from her coat, her beauty and grace reminded me of a James Bond heroine emerging from the sea!

Rufescent Tiger Heron with piranha catch

Scarlet-headed Blackbird

Cocoi Heron with speared loach

Boat-billed Heron

Black-cappped Donacobius

Otter family

Hyacinth Macaw pair

Capybara

Black Skimmer

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

                                            

Giant Otters, exclaimed our guide as we saw a bunch of boats focused on something near the river bank. And sure enough there they were, bouncing in and out of the water as they swam along the shoreline, periodically surfacing with a fish catch. The size of a big seal, these are by a distance the largest otter species worldwide. We kept pace with them for a long time before they decided to retreat for a break under cover of dense hyacinth. An afternoon drive into a quiet water hyacinth choked cul-de-sac was the definition of peace and tranquility: fish jumping out of the water every few seconds with caimans floating after them. Ringed and Green Kingfishers and Cocoi and Rufescent Tiger Herons stealth hunted on the fringes, capybara rested lazily at the edge and Black-collared Hawks patrolled the banks and Ospreys the open water. When the jaguar is away, the lesser mortals will play. As if on cue that this is his domain and no one else, we “found” our own big male. As he strode around trying to get a caiman meal, we admired his ripped muscles and swagger. 007 himself had showed up as a pre-dinner blessing for us.

Giant Otters, exclaimed our guide as we saw a bunch of boats focused on something near the river bank. And sure enough there they were, bouncing in and out of the water as they swam along the shoreline, periodically surfacing with a fish catch. The size of a seal, these are by a distance the largest otter species worldwide. We kept pace with them for a long time before they decided to retreat for a break under cover of dense hyacinth. An afternoon drive into a quiet water hyacinth choked cul-de-sac was the definition of peace and tranquility: fish jumping out of the water every few seconds with caimans floating after them. Ringed and Green Kingfishers and Cocoi and Rufescent Tiger Herons stealth hunted on the fringes, capybara rested lazily at the edge and Black-collared Hawks patrolled the banks and Ospreys the open water. When the jaguar is away, the lesser mortals will play. As if on cue that this is his domain and no one else, we “found” our own big male. As he strode around trying to get a caiman meal, we admired his ripped muscles and swagger. 007 himself had showed up as a pre-dinner blessing for us.

Folks, we have a manakin, announced our guide Fernandao the next morning: the Helmeted Manakin, with its bright red crest and helmet, was what he was referring to. Fernandao told us that jaguar sightings were unlikely till it warmed up mid-morning, so just enjoy the forest. A Ground Iguana lazing on a branch barely noticed us. Proboscis Bats neatly lined up facing down on a shady tree trunk, waiting for night to get their insect menu. A Golden Tegu lizard and a Great Horned Owl made us idly reach for our cameras. We nodded off in the warm sunlight….guess you can predict what jolted out of our reverie and send us scrambling for our cameras! A handsome male and female pair finished their dip in the river and then hauled themselves back out on to the bank, well before the half a dozen other boats, to whom the news had spread already, arrived. Talk about exclusive private shows. As the customary blazing sun replaced the unusually cool weather for the last two days, we baked for a good half an hour while the afternoon jaguar (our no 11 for this trip) rested in the shade…and finally got up and walked away. We could have given an arm and a leg to transplant one of the innumerable caimans or capybaras on the river, to within its range. A sandy beach full of skimmers, guans and piping-guans turned orange under the setting sun, as we headed back to Port Joffre for our own sundowner.

Black-fronted Nunbird

Striped Owl

Capped Heron

A secluded corner of the river

Proboscis Bats

Side-on view showing their "proboscis"

Next morning was our last day on the river, and we tried our luck with two quiet water specialists found exclusively at slow moving water edges, the Sungrebe and the Agami Heron. We had to be content though with a Band-tailed Antbird, a tiny triller. Agenda for the day was a boat ride up the River Picuiri, a tributary of the Cuiaba, to the Mango Rai Lodge 71 km away. Our target species was the Maned Wolf, the tallest canid in South America. Toco Toucans crossed the river overhead, the rising sun enriching their massive yellow-orange bills. A Giant River Otter munched away on its filet-of-fish breakfast. Tranquility was interrupted by a tapir that put on a delightful show for us: swimming underwater and giving us full screen shots before walking away, all in broad daylight.

We waited from noon till dusk for the Maned Wolf, idly soaking in the lovely river scenery and admiring a pair of Jabiru Storks doing their mating display: but no show. Just after retiring to our rooms after photographing the setting sun, a frantic call sent us scrambling outdoors. A huge long-legged animal majestically strode around camp, gobbling the strategic food offerings placed for it: at least half its diet is vegetarian, especially the wolf apple fruit. Neither a wolf nor a fox, this evolutionarily distinct canid's long legs are an adaptation to grassland habitat, and we were lucky to get a glimpse on our last day. A couple of male tapirs showed up after dark, and started some internecine warfare before diving into the river and then scrambling into the jungle. Perfect finish to a perfect trip.

Tegu Lizard

Striped Owl

Black and gold Howler Monkey

Black-fronted Nunbird

Giant Otter with fish meal

Southern Screamer

Band-tailed Antbird

Sunset over the Cuiaba River

Maned Wolf

Camp on the River Piquiri

Brazilian Tapir

Brazil's Pantanal has its share of problems. Only a fraction is under formal government protection as most of the land is under private ownership for use as cattle ranches, and it is only the seasonal flooding and inaccessibility during this time that prevents permanent land conversion for year-round pastures or agriculture. Habitat loss for development has already destroyed the majority of the Atlantic rainforest. With climate change likely to exacerbate these issues, many of the charismatic mammals and birds we saw may not be around for future generations.

But get there first to enjoy them firsthand!