Brazil: Classic Pantanal 7/15/2025-7/27/2025

https://ebird.org/tripreport/399052

When my VENT colleague David Ascanio led his first Pantanal Safari tour, he sent me a photo of the first Jaguar he saw and told me I simply had to lead tours here after spending several decades leading tours to the Venezuelan Llanos and never getting any decent view of a Jaguar. This year was my 9th tour to the incredible Pantanal ecosystem. On all my VENT tours, I write a daily journal that I send to my tour participants, my family, and many friends. Here are excerpts from my daily journals.

Our first morning of birding began at nearby Mãe Bonifácia Park on the way out of Cuiabá.  Due to some issues with delayed luggage not arriving, we birded this park while waiting for that problem to be resolved. One nice surprise at the park was seeing three Black-tailed Marmosets. Some of the best birds at the park were a pair of Great Antshrikes, Squirrel Cuckoo, Red-shouldered Macaws, Masked Gnatcatcher, Orange-backed Troupial, and Variable Oriole. Our time for birding along the way to SouthWild Pantanal was short due to the baggage delay, but we did get our Red-legged Seriema on the ride to the Transpantaneira Arch entrance.

Our group under the entrance arch to the Transpantaneira Road © Alzito da Silva

At the lodge, we had great views of Bare-faced Curassow, Jabirus on a nest, huge Picazuro Pigeons, Monk Parakeets, and Glittering-throated Emerald.  On the first afternoon at SouthWild and during our ride on the Pixaim River (actually a long, narrow lake) we found 64 species. Some special birds on our first boat ride were Sunbittern, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Cocoi Heron, Ringed and Amazon kingfishers, Rufous Cacholote, Black-backed Water-Tyrant, Black-collared Hawk, Little Cuckoo, and both Rufous and Pale-legged horneros.

Morning and afternoon outings on our first full day at SouthWild were very productive.  Here we had our first encounters with the largest rodent species in the world, Capybara.  Among the many species we enjoyed were Plumbeous Ibis, White-throated Piping-Guan, Whistling Heron, Striped and Squirrel cuckoos, American Pygmy Kingfisher, White-wedged Piculet, Crane Hawk,  a pair of Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls, male and female Rufous-tailed Jacamars, Toco Toucan, three species of woodpeckers, Turquoise-fronted Amazon, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Yellow-collared Macaw, Red-billed Scythebill, Mato Grosso Antbird, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Rufous Cacholote, Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant, Purplish Jay, Solitary Black Cacique, Orange-backed Troupial, Flavescent Warbler, Purple-throated Euphonia, Red-crested and Yellow-billed cardinals, and Silver-beaked Tanager.  Vanessa rested on a bench during siesta time and was rewarded with a huge Anaconda that slithered by on the opposite side of the Pixaim River. We had a tremendous day of birding, capped with one of the best Ocelot shows in memory!

Ocelot at SouthWild Pantanal photo blind © Vanessa Malcarne

We had breakfast at 6 AM again, packed the van at 7 AM, and began the long drive to Porto Jofre. We birded around SouthWild and then a nice section of the dirt road before getting out to the main Transpantaneira Road. Here we saw a male Red-crested Finch. A few hours down the road we stopped for bathrooms and to add a Great Horned Owl to our list.  Further down the road in a huge open area, we finally picked up Southern Screamer and a lot of Nacunda Nighthawks flying around in the day.  

When we arrived at Porto Jofre, we all saw a perched Hyacinth Macaw.  This is where we boarded the boat, skippered by Joao, that would take us to our Flotel.

We enjoyed lunch and a short siesta time before heading out on our afternoon half-day boat ride from the Flotel. Our first Jaguar was a partly visible individual lying down behind lots of vegetation on the bank above a bloated cow floating next to the shore.  We opted to move on and bird. We had super luck at a place where Marcos called in a stunning Rusty-collared Seedeater. One of my favorite birds on this tour was Pied Plover.  They were often on sandbars and we were able to watch a pair mate.

Mating Pied Plovers on a sandbar © Marcos Eugenio

While trying to get a Gray-breasted Crake to come in, we got another call of a Jaguar being seen on the Charles Tributary (named after Charles Munn, who owns the two places where we are staying) about 10 minutes away. After this individual walked back into the vegetation, Joao—who is a master boatman with great experience—took us a bit up the tributary where it showed up again.  Then a second Jaguar showed up and they began to move, but while all the other boats had departed, Joao continued up the tributary and we had one of the best shows possible as both descended to the water’s edge to get a drink. 

Jaguars descending to drink water from the Charles Tributary © Jeri Langham

On our second morning at the Flotel, we had not gone 200 yards down the Piquiri River when we saw our first Giant Otters. We spent about twenty minutes watching all the activity as they swam, ate, and rolled around to leave their scent on the bank. 

Giant River Otter exposing the huge teeth used to capture its prey © Marcos Eugenio 

Probably the best bird today was Least Bittern, and the second best for me was the Green-backed Becard. Other great looks were of Boat-billed Heron, Amazon Pygmy Kingfisher, Chestnut-eared Araçari, Pale-legged Hornero, White-lored Spinetail, Black-capped Donacobius, Variable Oriole, and Blue Dacnis.

Several good birds were seen from our Flotel on our third morning, including Cream-colored Woodpecker and Buff-throated Woodcreeper. On the Cuiabá River, a Blue-crowned Trogon was spotted and allowed good views.  Our afternoon up the Piquiri Tributary outing had some great surprises. As we were coming around a corner, we found about 100 Black Vultures on a large sand bank along with four King Vultures!  It is rare enough to see one soaring high in the sky but incredibly lucky to see one on the ground.

One of four King Vultures on a sandbar along the River Piquiri © Jeri Langham

This afternoon produced a Giant Anteater and a mated pair of Hyacinth Macaws. 

Hyacinth Macaw mated pair © Vanessa Malcarne 

Our final cruise down the Piquiri River to the Cuiabá River took us to the Charles Channel, and it was an incredible choice for the last outing on these rivers.  We managed to see all five species of kingfishers, with great looks at all except the Green-and-rufous that was a fly-by. I was very pleased when a Rufous-browed Peppershrike sang and we were able to get excellent views of it. We had another wonderful Jaguar encounter as we were exiting the channel—one of the biggest individuals Marcos, my co-leader, and I have ever seen in Jaguarland!

We returned to SouthWild for two additional nights and picked up Pale-crested Woodpecker, two more Toco Toucans, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Helmeted Manakin, and another Red-billed Scythebill.  Two target birds for the afternoon were Russet-crowned Crake and Long-tailed Ground Dove, and Creamy-bellied Thrush was new for our trip list.

Male Helmeted Manakin © Marcos Eugenio

Our lunchtime stop at Pousada Rio Claro on the way to Pousada Piuval allowed us to pick up our first Nanday Parakeets and two White Woodpeckers.

Upon our arrival at Pousada Piuval, we found an amazing amount of ground termite mounds, more Capybaras than at any other location, Black Howler Monkeys, an Agouti, and some young Yacaré Caimans with their mother. This is the best location to see Greater Rheas on this tour and we were not disappointed.

Greater Rhea at Pousada Piuval © Marcos Eugenio

The afternoon drive in the open-air safari truck took us to some great views, including hundreds of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks and some Nacunda Nighthawks on the ground.

A Red-legged Seriema posing on top of a tall ground termite termitarium was a great start to our pre-breakfast outing. A few minutes later, two Campo Flickers landed on top of another mound. A Grassland Sparrow sang and posed for us. Two more surprises before breakfast were a perched Great Potoo and then a Bat Falcon atop a tall dead tree.

Campo Flickers on 4-foot-tall ground termitarium in which they excavate nest sites © Marcos Eugenio

After our buffet breakfast we headed for the truck again, but we were slowed by a Great Rufous Woodcreeper. The strange Guira Cuckoo was easy to find here. A Sunbittern was another nice find on this outing. Some saw a Gray Monjita on the grounds of the lodge.  Green-barred and Golden-green woodpeckers were two nice additions in the afternoon.

As we departed early the next morning for the Cuiabá Airport, just after getting back on the Transpantaneira Road, there was a Scarlet-headed Blackbird further north than I have ever seen one.  We tried so hard to see one in appropriate habitat on the way to the Flotel and on the way back.  What a very lucky last lifer for all participants!

A complete list of the birds recorded on our tour can be found at: ebird.org/tripreport/399052

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