Leaving the Chapada do Araripe we will have a 5 hours drive through the Caatinga, we will be looking for the Masked Duck, Southern Pochard, South American Comb Duck and other in the lagoons on the route. Petrolina is big city located in the margins of the São Francisco River, we will birding in the Caatinga areas near the city, here the two Stigmaturas (Lesser and Greater Wagtail-Tyrant) occur together and the subspecies will be probably split in the near future. We’ll also look for the Spotted Piculet, White-throated Seedeater, Spot-backed Puffbbird, Red-cowled Cardinal, Cactus Parakeet, Red-shouldered Spinetail, White-napped Xenopsaris, Black-bellied Antwren, White-bellied Nothura, Campo Suiriri and others.
This is one of the best fragment of Atlantic Forest the remains in the state of Pernambuco. It’s part of the “Serra-do-Urubu” Mountain Range, one of the areas elected as Extremely Important to the Biodiversity by the Brazilian Ministry of Environment. This is the only site with records of the Alagoas-foliage Gleaner outside Murici Ecological Station; the others “Murici endemics” are also here (Alagoas Tyrannulet, Alagoas Antwren, Orange-bellied Antwren) and more specialties are possible, such as the Seven-colored Tanager, Long-tailed Woodnymph Golden-tailed Parrotlet, Willis’ Antbird, Opal-rumped Tanager, Pinto’s Spinetail and others.
Seven-colored Tanager
Murici Ecological Station (9º 13'S - 35º 52'W):
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This is one of the most famous sites in NE Brazil, during the 1980’s years 4 species were described from this area, the Critically Endangered and extremely rare Alagoas-foliage Gleaner, the Alagoas Antwren, Alagoas Tyrannulet and the Orange-bellied Antwren. The place was also a scenery of conflicts between the Conservationists and the Sugar Cane producers, and although the present status of Ecological Station, the region still abandoned by the Brazilian Authorities. But some patches of forest still there and are the habitat to unique birds. Besides the 4 mentioned, here we’ll also look for the Jandaya Parakeet, Pernambuco-foliage Gleaner, Scalloped Antbird, Golden-spangle Piculet, Willis’s Antbird, Seven-colored Tanager, the local races of the White-shouldered Antshrike, White-throated Spadebill, Black-cheeked Gnateater and the mythical White-collared Kite.
White-collared Kite
Saltinho Biological Reserve (8º 43'S - 35º10'W) and Cachoeira Linda Private Forest (8º 49'S - 35º 15'W):
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Two recent discoveries turned those areas obligatory in the Birdwatching routes in Northeast. The Pernambuco Pygmy-Owl described in 2002 and the rediscovery of the White-collared Kite. The first one was seen only one time after the formal description but is always a challenge try to find this “ghost” and the Kite is been regularly seen by our groups since the rediscovery ( than 50% of the visits). Besides those rarities we also have the either rare Fobes’ Blackbird and the Yellow-faced Siskin, the Smoky-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Sooty Grassquit, Red-showered Macaw and new chances to the Seven-colored Tanager, Pinto’s Spinetail, Willis’ Antbird and others.
Fringe-backed Fire-eye
Estância (11º 21'S - 37º 27W):
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The highlight here is the Fringe-backed Fire-eye, we will birding in an forest fragment near the coast. Other specialties are the Golden-capped Parakeet, Plain-bellied Emerald, Sooretama-Slaty Antshrike, the recently split Pernambuco Foliage-gleaner, Stripe-necked Tody-Tyrant, Rufous-capped Anthrush, with fortune, the White-winged Cotinga and new chance to the Golden-tailed Parrotlet.
