Day 8 - Estação Biológica de Canudos (Lear's Macaw reserve) and Arua - 10Feb2026

This could have easily been the highlight of the trip.  We woke pre-dawn and joined a couple of reserve rangers on a 4x4 drive to a canyon where the Lear's Macaw roosts.  The first overlook was a staging spot where the Lear's Macaw, also known as the Indigo Macaw, will fly in and sit close by on cacti before flying into the canyon walls where they nest.  This was truly a special moment with absolute quiet while we waited in silence for the Macaws to land, the only noise being the raucous calls from the birds.

Indigo Macaws

This is a beautiful landscape much like something you would see in the American Southwest.

Cliff Flycatcher

We spent the next couple of hours perched on a canyon wall watching about 60 Macaws flying in and out of the canyon and perching on the opposite wall.  We all took about 1000 photos, so here is my attempt at trying to white them down to a few.

In the 1980's and 1990's there was thought to be less than 100 of these birds left in the wild.  Through conservation and a crack down on the pet trade, they have rebounded to over 1000, but they are still one of the most rare species on the planet.

The amazing colors change in the light.

Turkey Vultures in South America have a white collar.

We had one King Vulture circling around us for some time which was hard to enjoy considering all the Macaws stealing our attention.

I could photograph these all day, simply a beautiful bird in an amazing setting.

There were also quite a few Blue-crowned Parakeets as well.

My buddy Gretchen couldn't have been happier.  

In order to stay on schedule we had to leave that magical place, but I left a piece of my heart there.  Back at the ranger's residences they made us an excellent breakfast.

Chalk-browed Mockingbird

Unidentified Lizard

We had another long drive ahead of us as we repositioned from the interior to the coastal forest.   We took the long way in the below graphic!

However, of course some stops were planned.  About an hour east of Canudos we stopped in a wooded border to a farming area.

Pectoral Antwren - A Vulnerable Brazilian endemic!

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

We didn't get any more birds of note until we made it all the way down to our destination, Mata de Sao Joao - Arua Observacao de aves e natureza. At least that's what the hotspot is called in eBird.  This is a local owned little bed and breakfast type place in the coastal forest.  We had just enough time to walk some of the roads around the hotel before dark.

Blue-chinned Sapphire - the Sapphires are hard to ID.  This one had some random white speckles and white primary feathers, probably partially leucistic. 

Sooretama Slaty-Antshrike - Another southeast Brazil endemic!  I got better photos later in the trip.

Bahia Antwren!  A very restricted ranged endemic of the southeast Brazilian coastal forest.  Again, I got better photos later.

Yellow-backed Tanager - looks very similar to the female Guira Tanager.  Unfortunately I didn't get better photos of this one although they are widespread so I will inevitably crush it in the future.

Northern Maned Sloth - a specialty endemic to this area of Brazil.

The proprietor of the hotel cooked fish baked in banana leaves with plantains and I guessed correctly that it was Bluefish!  Who would have thought that I would end up eating a fish in Brazil that we have up here in NC?  Most people don't love Bluefish because of the dark oily flesh, but I am nostalgic of it because I grew up catching and eating them in Long Island, NY.  It went perfectly with yet another Caipirinha with a a local twist.  Every good hotel we visited made this national drink of Brazil a little different.  The owner of Arua also makes honey with the local honeybees of this part of Brazil and he infuses his Caipirinhas with it.  There is a big push in this part of Brazil to promote the local bees instead of the European Honeybee. 

I don't usually buy the hotel shwag, but I wanted to support this small business owner so I bought a sloth shirt.

Another amazing day in Brazil!  Makes me want to go back.

Day 7 in Brazil - Repositioning Day from Sitio Pau Preto to Rio de Pedras in Canudos (09Feb2026)

The great thing about this trip to Brazil was that despite some really long travel days in the van, we always made some good stops along the way and bagged new birds almost every time we did.  Day 7 was spent repositioning from Sitio Pau Preto to Rio de Pedras in Canudos or somewhere near there so we could be ready to hit up the famous Lear's Macaw preserve at first light the next day.  This was a 7 hour drive day, the route below says less than that but keep in mind we didn't always take the fastest route.  

Even one of the first gas station stops had me get some better photos of a species I had only briefly seen before.

Sick's Swift - similar to the other Chaetura swift in the area, the Gray-rumped Swift but this one has a brown rump.

Fork-tailed Palm Swifts were also circling in the same area.

Our first real stop for the day was a national forest reserve in Barbalha County in Ceara State.

Chivi Vireo

Rufous-breasted Leaftosser!  This was the bird we tried to coax a couple days earlier but couldn't get a photo of.  This time it sat still, even if it was buried in deep foliage, so I was able to keep moving until I had a passable shot.

We didn't stay in this forest long as we had a date with the most important bird of the whole trip, the Araripe Manakin!  The Araripe Manakin (Chiroxiphia bokermanni) is a critically endangered species only discovered in 1996 which is mind-boggling considering that it is a flashy bird that looks like no other.  However, when you see it's range map you can start to understand why...

Its kind of strange, but the place where we were to see this amazing bird is literally an Amusement Park - Arajara Park in Barbalha.  We had to check in at the ticket booth for a huge park that looks like a typical theme park in the US, but the underlying theme for this park is the Manakin which lives smack dab in the middle of the park.  At one point the population of this bird was thought to be about 50 individuals, but estimates are now much higher although certainly less than 1000 birds.

While they processed our passports, this Reddish Hermit was enjoying the abundant flowers lining the entranceway. 

Araripe Manakin!  It didn't take long to find this striking male along the trail the park maintains specifically for the Manakin. 

This female on nest was a little trickier to find.

Another male further along the trail.

We only had a couple of hours at the park so it was a little bittersweet but we had plenty of good looks.  Maybe I will go back some day for a proper crushing of this beautiful bird and then go on some rides!

Orange-fronted Yellow-finch - this was a planned gas station stop for a bird that has a wide distribution over South America but is not necessarily common.  At least we only saw it this once.

Our last step of the day was at Rio de Pedras to watch for an evening roost of Blue-winged Macaws.

Blue-winged Macaws - again, this is a relatively wide-spread species in south central South America but we only saw them once on the whole trip.

Southern Scrub Flycatcher

Least Nighthawk!  Unfortunately it just flew by and didn't allow for a crushing.

We had dinner is a small town before making the last push to the ranger's property at the Lear's Macaw Preserve.  This was a rustic property with open air rafters that are exceptional at capturing the breeze which made air conditioning not needed.  That was fortunate because there was none.  Next post is all about the Lear's Macaw or the alternate name of Indigo Macaw as captured in eBird.