The Moustached Woodcreeper is a Vulnerable species per the IUCN criteria with two disjunct populations in east Brazil, making it an endemic. It tends to like really tall trees with bromeliads including palm trees which is where we found ours in Forquilha, Ceara state Brazil.
The Crested Becard is a wide-ranging becard east of the Andes range in South America all the way to the northeast coast which is where I saw this one in Forquilha, Ceara state Brazil. The crest can appear to be relatively flat when the bird is not on alert. The becard genus contains 17 species.
The breast isn't the only thing that is plain about this dove. It has a wide distribution from Mexico down through southeast Brazil. We had this one at a farm in Forquilha, Ceara state Brazil. There are 9 species in this genus including some that are probably familiar to my readers, like the Inca and Common Ground Dove.
The Rufous-sided Crake is one of those crakes that can be seen strutting around, but the one we had was being coy. We had 3-4 different species of crake calling at this one spot, but this Rufous-sided was the only one that gave us any look at all. They have a wide distribution across much of the eastern half of South American and then some. I got this shot at a small farm pond in Forquilha, Ceara state Brazil.
The Pale Baywing is a northeastern Brazilian endemic and is one of two species in the genus with the other being the Grayish Baywing which is not endemic to Brazil. They were split from a common species in the 2010's. I think we saw them a couple times on my second trip to Brazil but only well at one spot in Forquilha, Ceara state.
This is a widespread bird across much of the eastern half of South America. It is one of only two birds in the genus with the other being Yellow-hooded Blackbird, not to be confused with Yellow-headed Blackbird. The Chestnut-capped Blackbird can be found in different habitats including some roadside stops, so keep your eyes and ears open when traveling the Brazilian countryside.
The Red-cowled Cardinal is one of 6 in the Paroaria genus which are all "cardinals" that are really tanagers (Thraupidae family). All of them have some combination of red on their heads. All of them are native to South America and the Red-cowled is endemic to northeast Brazil. We saw these in many different places on my second trip to Brazil, but I can say that the set up for photography was best at Sitio Pau Preto in Potengi. The guy who set the feeders up at this place knew what he was doing so that birds were on natural settings and had the perfect background. Thanks Bob!
