Brazil Day 20 - Porto Seguro - the Grande Finale (22-23Feb2026)

Our last full day in Brazil was spent in a National Park near Porto Seguro to look for some endemics.  We got a little unlucky with the weather (rain then heat) so it was a little less active than other days on the trip but we still got some quality birds.

Rufous-throated Sapphire

Bahia Antwren - our best looks yet at this endemic.

Brown-winged Schiffornis - not endemic but a new genus for me.

Hook-billed Hermit

Buff-throated Woodcreeper

Black-headed Berryeater!  A Near Threatened (IUCN criteria) Brazilian endemic.

Red-stained Woodpecker

Eastern Olivaceous Flatbill!

Flame-crested Tanager

Racket-tipped Thorntail

Great Pondhawk

Violet-capped Woodnymph

Bem-Te-Vi (Kiskadee)

Reddish Hermit

White-chinned Sapphire

Blue-chinned Sapphire

Swallow-tailed Hummingbird

White-chinned Sapphire or Versicolored Emerald?

Rufous-throated Sapphire

White-crowned Manakin

That evening we tried for some owls but dipped due to rain.

Common Pauraque

In the morning before our flights out, I birded around the hotel grounds.

Peach-fronted Parakeet - literally thousands of these streamed by in the morning.

East Brazilian Chachalaca

Masked Water-Tyrant

Plain-bellied Emerald

Wow what a trip!  Brazil is a magical place with so much potential.  We tallied 492 species in 22 days, covered over 3000 miles, saw some amazing places and I picked up 236 lifers!  And to think I still have the Amazon and most of the south of Brazil to explore.

Brazil Day 19 - The road to Porto Seguro (21Feb2026)

We had one more long drive ahead of us as we made our way to our final destination of Porto Seguro where we would be flying home from.  Part of the drive is through Conduru, a State Park so you can bet that we made a ton of stops.

Our first roadside stop was to look at some Swallow-winged Puffbirds that were hawking insects.

Swallow-winged Puffbird

White-bellied Tanager

White-winged Cotinga!  This time a male. A Brazilian endemic restricted to the coastal Atlantic forest.

Orange-bellied Euphonia

Blue Dacnis

Reddish Hermit

Southern Rough-winged Swallow

Bare-throated Bellbird from about a mile away.  Even at this distance you can tell it is a striking bird.

Southern Lapwing

Grayish Mourner

Flame-crested Tanager

Wedge-billed Woodcreeper

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker

Yellow-throated Woodpecker

Golden-headed Lion Tamarin!! This was the bird of the day.  This amazing monkey has an Endangered status on the IUCN Red List.

A rare monkey with a shrinking range.

Awesome!  At lunch I celebrated and bought some local liquor.

Cachaca is the key ingredient for Caipirinhas, the national drink of Brazil.  Bem-Te-Vi is the Great Kiskadee and also translates to 'Nice to See You'.  This is also onomatopoeic for the bird's call.  I am still nursing this bottle now but I can say it is delicious with hints of banana flavoring. 

Next post is all about Porto Seguro.