Birdwatching in Brazil

Brazil holds more than 1,900 bird species, roughly a fifth of all the birds on Earth, which puts it among the top two or three countries anyone can name for a list. That number is the easy part. The real question on any birding tour in the country is where to point your binoculars, since the two biomes that pull most birders, the Pantanal and the Amazon, watch completely differently.

The Pantanal is one of the best places for serious birdwatching on the continent. It is open wetland, so birds sit out in the light instead of hiding in the canopy, and the cast is large and loud: hyacinth macaws, jabiru storks, hundreds of herons, ibis, kingfishers, and raptors. Our Pantanal wildlife trips run from Campo Grande in the south and Cuiabá in the north, working the floodplain by open 4×4, by boat along the rivers, and on foot, with binoculars high on the packing list. These are the Pantanal birding tours most first-timers should start with.

The Amazon is the opposite discipline: the species count is far higher, well over a thousand, but the forest is dense and the birds are up in the canopy, so you work for them. The reward is sunrise. On jungle lodges and cruise trips, the day starts around 5:30 AM on the water or on a forest trail, when the canopy fills with sound and toucans, macaws, parrots, and oropendolas move against the early light. Glide the blackwater channels of Anavilhanas by canoe, and you’ll add herons, hoatzins, and kingfishers at eye level along the banks.

You don’t have to choose blind. The Pantanal gives you more birds in plain sight with less effort, while the Amazon Rainforest gives you a longer, rarer list if you are willing to rise early and look up.

One practical note before you plan: our packages cover the on-the-ground experience (expert local guides, the accommodation and meals listed in the itinerary, and transfers from the meeting city) but not international or domestic flights. Tell us which region you want and your dates, and we line the trip up around the season!