Copyright: monacoeye • All rights reserved • Pantanal, Brazil, 2011

Bird name: Yellow Billed Cardinal
Latin: Paroaria capitata
Other: Cardenilla, cardenal sin copete (Es) • Cavalaria (Br)
Family: Emberizidae • Cardinals
Range: Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina
Similar:

I saw great numbers of Yellow-billed Cardinals at Pouso Alegre lodge in the Pantanal, where they would come to feed on grain for the animals. They have orange bills, adults have red heads and juveniles pale or blotchy heads - many examples below. Also seen elsewhere in the Pantanal.

Below, Yellow-billed Cardinals with Saffron Finches, Bay-headed Cowbirds etc


Below, two ages of juvenile Yellow-billed Cardinals.
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Copyright: monacoeye • All rights reserved • Lagoa do Peixe • November 2009

Bird name: Saffron Finch
Latin: Sicalis flaveola
Other: Canário-da-terra-verdadeiro (Br) • Canario de tejado (Es), Jilguero dorado
Family: Thraupidae • Tanagers, Finches
Range: South America, Caribbean
Similar:

The Saffron Finch is now classed with the Tanagers (Thraupidae) rather than the Buntings (Emberizidae).

The male is distinguished by a bright yellow front and orange/saffron glow above and sometimes below the face - there are various races.

The race pictured above is probably subspecies pelzelni, from location. Females and juveniles are hard to distinguish - they lack most of the yellow colouring and therefore look similar to other females. I’m going here on the striped chest as a distinguishing feature, but treat my IDs with caution.

As you can see below, the Saffron Finch takes advantage of the Rufous Hornero’s great nest-building abilities. Rufous Hornero’s typically build a new nest every year, so there are plenty of empty ones to be squatted.

The Saffron Finch is found throughout much of South America and the Caribbean, often near farm land.

Below, adult Saffron Finch, Pantanal, August.
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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Lagoa do Peixe, RS • November 2009

Bird name: Savanna Hawk
Latin: Buteogallus meridionalis
Other: Heterospizias meridionalis • Gavião-caboclo (Br) • Gavilán cangrejero colorado, Busardo sabanero (Es)
Family: Accipitridae • Hawks, Birds of Prey
Range: Panama to Argentina, incl Brazil
Similar:

The Savanna Hawk is a handsome bird, in tones of sienna and grey, with a light head and dark band running along the back of wings. The back is dark grey, with some grey extending into the upperside of the wings. The wings and body seen from below are mostly uniform finely-barred light rufous and grey, with dark fingertips.

The tail has one thick white band bordered by dark bands of brown, with some white at the tip. The Savannah Hawk has distinctive rufous “trousers”, yellow legs and yellow bill base with black tip.

Seen here on farmland, the Savannah Hawk is present throughout most of Brazil and is present in South America from Panama to Argentina. Seen frequently in the Pantanal in August.

Below: Savanna Hawk watching road, Pantanal, 2011


Below, Savanna Hawk flying low over field with wings swept back, S Brazil.
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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Pantanal Aug 2011

Bird name: Great Black Hawk
Latin: Buteogallus urubitinga
Other: Gavião-preto (Br) • Gavilán cangrejero grande, urubitinga (Es)
Family: Accipitridae • Hawks, Birds of Prey
Range: Mexico to Southern Brazil
Similar: Common Black Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Snail Kite

I saw this Great Black Hawk on the Transpantaneira in the Pantanal. All black except for white tail band, massive bill.

Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Pantanal, August 2011

Bird name: Black Collared Hawk
Latin: Busarellus nigricollis
Other: Gavião-belo (Br) • águila colorada (Es)
Family: Accipitridae • Hawks, Birds of Prey
Range: Mexico to Uruguay incl Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Venezuela etc
Similar: Savanna Hawk

I saw Black Collared Hawks regularly during my week in the Pantanal (but nowhere else). Difficult to drive down the Transpantaneira highway without seeing one.

The Black Collared Hawk is an attractive hawk, and reminded me of the Savanna Hawk, but was easy to identify by its black collar, even in the juvenile (see further below). Head white. In adults body is mostly rufous tones with blackish flight feathers, but juveniles have light patches - especially on chest - and are browner. Often by roadsides or riversides. Takes up similar positions to Roadside Hawks.

Below: Adult Black Collared Hawk taking off, Pantanal, Brazil, Aug 2011


Below: Juvenile Black Collared Hawk, Pantanal, Brazil, Aug 2011
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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Pantanal, Brazil, August.

Bird name: Grey Necked Wood Rail
Latin: Aramides cajanea
Other: Gray-necked Wood-rail • Saracura-três-potes (Br) • Chiricote (Es), Rascón cuello gris, Chilacoa colinegra
Family: Rallidae • Rails
Range: Mexico to Argentina, incl Brazil etc.
Similar:

Grey-necked Wood-Rails were one of the most frequently seen birds in the Pantanal in August - always in or near water. The riverbanks around Curicaca Lodge usually produced one or two, often near jacarés, and once beside a capuchin monkey which was drinking from the river.

Grey-necked Wood-rails are medium-sized colourful birds with red legs, rufous underparts, grey neck, yellow-green bill and red irises. The grey neck is diagnostic. They are found throughout Central America and South America east of the Andes.

Below, close-up of a Grey-necked Wood Rail, Pantanal, Brazil, August.
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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Pantanal, August 2011.

Bird name: Lesser Yellow Headed Vulture
Latin: Cathartes burrovianus
Other: Urubu-de-cabeça-amarela, urubu-menor-de-cabeça-amarela (Br) • Aura sabanera (Es)
Family: Cathartidae • New World Vultures
Range: Mexico, Central America, South America E of Andes, esp. Brazil, Pantanal. Lowland wet grassland, swamps, heavily degraded forest.
Similar: Greater Yellow Headed Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Comparison

The Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture is the most visible vulture in the Pantanal (Turkey Vultures also seen). Seen eating at fruit feeders at Curicaca Lodge and beside the road leading to the Transpantaneira.

The Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture is a smaller bird than the Greater Yellow-headed Vulture, with thinner wings and narrower head. Underside of wings lighter than GYHV but not as light as TV. Head more colourful (with yellow and blue) than Turkey Vulture. The Greater Yellow-headed Vulture is not found in the Pantanal. The Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture was rare (I didn’t see one) in the forested Rio Azul lodge, southern Para.

Below: Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Pantanal. Lightened slightly to show wing pattern.
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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Pantanal, Brazil, August.

Bird name: Jabiru
Latin: Jabiru mycteria
Other: Jabiru (Br) • Jabirú, tuyuyu (Es)
Family: Ciconiidae • Storks
Range: Mexico to Argentina, esp Pantanal, Brazil.
Similar:

The Jabiru is a very large stork, emblematic of the Pantanal region of South America. The word is from the Guarani meaning swollen neck.

The nest is huge, several metres in each dimension. Each year returning Jabirus add a new layer. Smaller birds often nest underneath. In a photo below you might just make out three monk parakeets below the nest.

The nest contained one adult and two juvenile jabirus, pictured below, which lack the characteristic pink red neck of the adult. Great birds.

Otherwise individuals were seen regularly, often with herons, in the pools drying beside the Transpantaneira and at Curicaca Lodge and Pouso Alegre, where I also saw the large nest.

Below, 2 juvenile Jabirus in nest, Pouso Alegre Lodge, Pantanal, Brazil, August.


Below, Jabiru feeds passing its bill through the water and mud on bottom, Pantanal..


Below, the Jabiru nest is huge, several metres wide, with other birds nesting below.
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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy • Lagoa do Peixe, RS • November 2009

Bird name: Wood Stork
Latin: Mycteria americana
Other: Wood Ibis • Cabeça-seca (Br) • Tántalo Americano (Es)
Family: Ciconiidae • Storks
Range: SE USA to N Argentina, incl Brazil, Pantanal etc
Similar: Maguari Stork, Jabiru

The Wood Stork is a large stork which lives in tropical and sub-tropical America, with a small population in south-eastern USA. These photos were taken in Rio Grande do Sul and the Pantanal.

It is distinguished from the Maguari Stork by its darker, heavier neck, head and bill, which is slightly curved, dark irises and dark legs. Wings are black and white.

Below, Wood Stork in flight in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
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Copyright: monacoeye • Pantanal, 28 April 2010 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Rufescent Tiger Heron
Latin: Tigrisoma lineatum
Other: Avetigre colorada (Es), Hocó colorado • Socó-boi (Br)
Family: Ardeidae • Herons
Range: Mexico to Uruguay
Similar: Fasciated Tiger Heron juvenile

Adult Rufescent Tiger Herons have wonderful finely barred greyish wings and rufous head and neck with white stripes down neck, yellow lores and yellow or orange irises. They are not too shy so relatively easy to observe.

Juvenile Rufescent Tiger Herons are really stunning, with coarse barring - like a tiger. Pictured above, one which has caught an insect.

In the Pantanal in August, Rufescent Tiger Herons are abundant by the drying bodies of water, and frequently seen in ditches, on river banks and near ponds and lakes.

Below: An Adult Rufescent Tiger Heron on a mound, Pantanal, Brazil, Aug 2011
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Copyright: monacoeye • Do not copy without permission • Lagoa do Peixe, Brazil • Nov 2009

Bird name: Roadside Hawk
Latin: Buteo magnirostris
Other: Gavião-carijó (Br) • Gavilán pollero (Es), Aguilucho de ala rojiza, Taguato común
Family: Accipitridae • Hawks, Birds of Prey
Range: Latin America, Mexico to Argentina, incl Brazil
Similar:

The Roadside Hawk has a dark head with pale irises and usually pale barred chest and underwings. Topside of wings are dark, with a rufous wing patch on primaries. This rufous patch, usually just visible on perched birds, is diagnostic for Roadside Hawk.

The Roadside Hawk is typically the most frequently seen bird of prey when birding in Latin America, so it is a good bird to learn to identify.

Tail has thick brown and white horizontal stripes. Bill base is yellowish with dark tip and perhaps some light blue in the middle.

There are several subspecies and morphs, where dark brown is replaced by grey. Upper chest can be dark (Panama) or vertically striped (Brazil).

In the Pantanal in August I saw Roadside Hawks on most days - near roads, rivers and in forest. Near Mindo, Ecuador, in April, it was also the most common and visible bird of prey.

Below, Roadside Hawk mobbed in El Valle, Panama, May 2010. Dark throat and chest.


Below, a pair of Roadside Hawks in Mindo, Ecuador, April 2011. Yellow irises, orange ceres, grey throat and chest, rufous primaries just visible in perched birds. Thin white barring lines on underside.

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Copyright: monacoeye • Pantanal • August 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Buff Necked Ibis
Latin: Theristicus caudatus
Other: Curicaca (Br) • Bandurria (Es)
Family: Threskiornithidae • Ibises
Range: South America
Similar:

The beautiful Buff-necked Ibis, although not common everywhere, can be seen in a few spots in the Pantanal quite easily.

These were all seen in the ditches below the Transpantaneira highway in August.

The Portuguese name is Curicaca - the name of a good lodge on the Transpantaneira. I didn’t see any Buff-necked Ibises while I was there, but plenty of other nice birds.More photos...

Copyright: monacoeye • Pantanal • August 2011 • Do not copy without permission

Bird name: Green Ibis
Latin: Plegadis ridgwayi
Other: Coró-coró (Br) • Ibis verde (Es)
Family: Threskiornithidae • Ibises
Range: Honduras through South America, incl Brazil etc
Similar:

The Green Ibis was the most commonly seen of the ibises in the Pantanal in August. They were also seen following Capybaras with other small birds such as Cattle Tyrants and Wattled Jacanas. The Capybaras must have dislodged fish, crustaceans, amphibians and insects from the mud.

Colouring seemed quite variable. Some birds (eg above) seemed quite brown with small flashes of green. Others (eg directly below) had much green plumage and greenish bills and legs and neck feathers - probably breeding plumage.

Below: a Green Ibis in Pouso Alegre, Pantanal, Brazil, August.
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Copyright: monacoeye • Pantanal, August 2011 • Do not copy without permission,

Bird name: Baywing
Latin: Agelaioides badius
Other: Bay Winged Cowbird • Asa-de-telha (Br)
Family: Icteridae • Cowbirds
Range: Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay
Similar: Juvenile Screaming Cowbird

The Bay-winged Cowbird, as it is commonly known, is predominantly grey with rufous wing edges and black eye and bill.

Above, seen on the Transpantaneira highway, in the Brazilian Pantanal.

Baywings were easy to see at Pouso Alegre, where they joined Saffron Finches to feed on corn given to the animals. Not uncommon in open country.

These are not “true” Cowbirds, in that they are not brood parasitic or in the genus Molothrus. In fact they are parasitised by Shiny Cowbirds.

Baywings are found in the southern countries of South America.More photos...