White-bearded Manakin (Manacus manacus) - 12Feb2026

The White-bearded Manakin has a large range in South America including most of the upper half and also into southeast Brazil along the Atlantic Forest.  We had them in a bunch of places including Barro Branco in Lençóis which was our home-base while visiting the Chapada Diamantina in Bahia State, Brazil.  It was a little frustrating when we passed this species many times without devoting much time to it because it is widespread and the guides didn't want to waste time on it in favor of endemics.  Of course the guides were right and I will undoubtedly get more chances to crush this species.  This photo will do for now.

Biscutate Swift (Streptoprocne biscutata) - 14Feb2026

This large swift species is almost a Brazilian endemic but does cross over a bit into Paraguay and northeast Argentina. It looks somewhat similar to the White-collared Swift and many times both are in the same flock which makes ID tricky.  The White-collared Swift has a more even looking white collar while the Biscutate's collar gets wider on the throat and if you can see it from the side, the two ends of the collar don't actually touch and are staggered in a corkscrew pattern.  I have some poor photos showing this feature from this same bird, but this photo is much nicer.  This photo was taken near Mucuge, Brazil.

Short-tailed Nighthawk (Lurocalis semitorquatus) - 12Feb2026

This large nighthawk was truly awesome to watch as it strafed us at dusk while we looked for owls.  It has a very wide range including Central and South America, but is pretty strictly crepuscular so difficult to see well.  This one was curious with us and came very close over our heads but 99% of my photos didn't come out as it was almost dark and getting your cameras autofocus to work in that kind of light is tricky.

Stripe-breasted Starthroat (Heliomaster squamosus) - 15Feb2026

We first saw this Starthroat species while looking for the endemic Sao Francisco Sparrow and I was super excited to get what I thought was a hard to get endemic hummingbird.  Brazil doesn't have many lodges with hummingbird feeders for some reason or another, so most times it's necessary to find the bird in its native habitat.  Then a few days later at Lajedo dos Beija-Flores in Boa Nova we realized that this hummingbird was one of the regulars at the feeders and I was able to greatly improve on my photos. There are 4 Starthroat species in this genus.

Sao Francisco Sparrow (Arremon franciscanus) - 13Feb2026

This Near Threatened (IUCN Criteria) sparrow is a Brazilian endemic with a very small range in the Sao Francisco river valley between Bahia and Minas Gerais States.  We were searching for him for a while peering into the undergrowth while trying to triangulate from his song.  It turns out it was right above our heads singing from a branch. There are 22 species in the genus Arremon with names ending in Sparrow, Finch and Brush Finch.