Orange-fronted Yellow-Finch (Sicalis columbiana) - 09Feb2026

 These "finches" of South America are actually placed in the Tanager family Thraupidae.  They have three disjunction populations with the largest being in the Brazilian interior.  They look a lot like the similar Saffron Finch which is also in the Sicalis Genus.  Although they are considered widespread and common, we only really noticed them at one gas station which our guide typically visits to get them.  Note the dusky lores and pink legs.  Saffron Finches have darker legs and less pronounced dark lores.

Blue-winged Macaw (Primolius maracana) - 09Feb2026

The Blue-winged Macaw is a relatively common macaw in southeastern South America.  That being said, we only saw them once on our second trip to Brazil.  Like all Macaws they face threats from the pet bird trade and deforestation.  We saw these at Rio de Pedras in Bahia State Brazil.

Southern Scrub Flycatcher (Sublegatus modestus) - 09Feb2026

The Southern Scrub Flycatcher was split from the Scrub Flycatcher complex back in the early 2000s.  The Southern one has a wide range across South America mostly south of the Amazon basin and then overlaps with the Amazon Scrub Flycatcher which obviously is in the Amazon basin.  The Northern one is way north in Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Guiana and Suriname. I now need to get me an Amazon one.  This  one was photographed at Rio de Pedras in Bahia State in Brazil.

Indigo Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari) - 10Feb2026

Indigo Macaw is also known as Lear's Macaw is an endangered endemic species per IUCN criteria.  Its population was tiny until its breeding location in the cliffs was discovered in the 1970s and set aside for protection.  Previous to that, the bird was only known from the pet trade.  We were able to stay at the famous Estação Biológica de Canudos (Lear's Macaw reserve) in the ranger's quarters so we could visit the cliffs first thing in the morning.  This was probably my personal highlight of the whole trip to northeast Brazil.

In 1983 it was postulated that only 60 adult birds remained.  After protecting this land and implementing compensation programs for farmers who previously shot the birds, they have turned around the decline and in fact there has been a robust recovery with something like 1200 birds surveyed.

The range is highly limited to this area in Brazil.

Pectoral Antwren (Herpsilochmus pectoralis) - 10Feb2026

This Brazilian endemic has a limited range in east and northeast Brazil due to fragmentation of its habitat.  We got ours in a tiny gallery forest that was bordering a farm field.  There are 17 Antwren species in this genus and the Pectoral Antwren's closest relative is the Large-billed Antwren which I picked up on my trip to the Pantanal.  This species is dimorphic with females having brown and rufous colors.  This one was a male.

Blue-chinned Sapphire (Chlorestes notata) - 22Feb2026

This South American hummingbird has a huge range across much of the north of the continent and eastern portions of Brazil which is where I saw mine for the first time.  We saw several of them in different places but this one was at Mata do Rio de Serra in Bahia State.  The Sapphires and Emeralds of eastern Brazil are tricky identification problems so I relied heavily on our guide for nailing the ID, but generally this species has a black upper mandible and dark red lower mandible.  I hope to get a better adult male picture on a future trip. This species is one of five in the genus Chlorestes which includes the White-chinned Sapphire which also is found in this area but has a more brightly red bill. 

Green-backed Trogon (Trogon viridis) - 17Feb2026

The Green-backed Trogon is a widespread Trogon found all over the Amazon basin in South America but also the southeast of Brazil.  This is a consequence of the fragmentation of Brazilian forest which has segregated different populations of birds.  They used to be lumped with the White-tailed Trogon of Colombia, Ecuador and Panama but phylogenetic studies led to the split in the early 2000s.  I took this photo at Fazenda Paris in Bahia State.