There are so many birds in this part of Brazil that is hard to wrap
the mind around it.
Approximately 3,000 species of birds are found in South
America. Researchers estimate that 1,600 of the species are found in Brazil and
more than 650 of them are specifically found in the Pantanal. This place is a
bird watchers’ paradise!
I have my favorites, of course. The kingfisher (we saw
Amazon, Green, and Ringed) is an amazing bird that likes to be around water and
goes fishing for its food. The blue-fronted parrot has a call that (to me)
sounds like a cat. I was never able to snap a photo of it because they are
usually flying or hiding behind leaves.
The larger birds in the Pantanal are impressive. These
include the Jabaru Stork, Roadside Hawk, Black-Collared Hawk, Bare-faced
Carrasow, Southern Screamer, and the Cara Cara.
We were able to snap shots of the rare Common Potoo and the
Spotted Puffbird. The Common Potoo is nocturnal and has grey and brownish
feathers that allow it to blend perfectly into a tree. The bird stands still in
the fork of a tree with its eyes closed during the day, resembling a branch. If
someone or something comes around the Potoo during the day, it will not move to
take a look, instead, it will look out of the very corner of its eyes to see
what’s there. Every time we came back to look for the Potoo, it was in the same
position as the day before. Our guide thinks it has a nest in the tree with
eggs or little ones. Common Potoos hunt insects at night and are often mistaken
for owls. No one knows if the Potoo is actually a rare bird or if it is just so
hard to see that people believe that it is rare. Can you find it in the photo below?
*Photos were taken by me.
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