BRAZIL: The Spix Fix

Sorry about that; just liked the headline.

I'm off to Brazil again in a few days so I thought I'd try to add a bit of cheer by revisiting the Pantanal with a few photos of colourful birds by the Pixaim in the Pantanal.

Rufous-bellied Thrush, Rio Pixaim, Pantanal September 2009.

OK, the Palm Tanager's not up to much but the Red-crested Cardinal makes up for it. All these were frequent bird table visitors just outside the hotel as was this Greyish Saltator.

Greyish Saltator is a pretty common bird over most of South America, often found near damp areas, riverine habitats or lakes. Basically anywhere near water. This Crab-eating Fox had become quite accustomed to the hotel grounds and its residents, often approaching for scraps of food in the evenings.

The Crested Caracara is a familiar bird to many birders visiting the Neotropics. Widespread and fairly numerous throughout the Americas this mainly carrion eater is now two species!

This one (in the Pantanal) is a Southern Caracara. Note the brownish, slightly mottled scapulars and pale brown lower back. There is a small contact area with Northern Caracaras (below) in northern Amazonian Brazil which also occurs in Cuba (where this bird was photographed), South America (south to northern Peru and northern Amazonian Brazil), Central America, Mexico and southernmost USA.

Northern Caracara, Cuba March 2008.

Northern Caracaras, like this one photographed in Guyana this year, have less extensive (more spotty) barring on the chest, blackish scapulars and lower back.
I'll be visiting the north-east of Brazil on the next trip, the home of many rare endemics. One I won't be seeing is the Spix's Macaw, now extinct in the wild. The failed re-introduction scheme (see BBC Wildlife cutting header photo) was well publicised and the female met with an untimely end (probably a collision with overheard cables). I was privileged to see the one remaining wild male back in the late 1990's, probably one of the last birders to see the bird in the wild. My excitement at seeing such a rare bird was stiffled somewhat with the realisation that I was in fact celebrating watching a bird on the brink of extinction in the wild. That memory will stay with me forever.

Common Caracaras?