Iguacu Falls Pre-trip: Brazil & Argentina Departure 1 - June 2025
Dates: June 17 - 21, 2025
Leaders: David Ascanio & Local Leader
E-bird
Total Species: 95 birds
Click Here to view list.
Overall Summary
The view of a massive waterfall is hard to beat as the start of a visit to the American tropics. Words fall short: Iguaçu Falls is an unwritten poem on the power of Planet Earth—deafening, scary, and unspeakably beautiful.
We came here to appreciate some smaller but equally beautiful wonders, birds with wings and colorful feathers. It is always a challenge to find “Her Majesty,” the Black-fronted Piping-Guan, but this time we saw this charismatic Atlantic Rainforest bird on the very first afternoon of the tour.
Two full days followed, one on the Brazilian side and one on the Argentinian. In Brazil, we spent much of the morning along the Poço Preto road, where, in spite of cloud cover and the darkness of the forest interior, we managed to see the São Paulo Bristle-Tyrant and enjoyed brief views of the secretive Southern Antpipit. Then, before the rain started, we moved to the forest edge for a snack and birded a track along the park access road. The heavy rain soon drove us inside, where we enjoyed some good birding from the restaurant terrace, adding a couple of Snail Kites, Cocoi Heron, Great Egret, and Riverbank Warbler.
Our second day found us on the Argentinian side of Iguaçu Falls on a cloudy day with lower-than-normal temperatures. Here we had morning views of Creamy-bellied, Pale-breasted, and Rufous-bellied thrushes, along with a family group of Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers, a vocal Ochre-collared Piculet, and the unique Eared Pygmy-Tyrant. We also located Magpie, Ruby-crowned, and Guira tanagers. Toward the end of the road, the one and only Oli spotted a bird of prey: at first glance, it looked like a juvenile Gray-bellied Hawk, never before recorded closer than 50 miles south of our location, but then we considered whether it might be a juvenile Bicolored Hawk, an identification eventually confirmed after consulting with some experts.
The morning’s light rain didn’t keep us from visiting the falls from the Argentinian side. We walked the bridges to the lookout, with views of Amazon Kingfisher and Rufescent Tiger-Heron along the way, and eventually made it to Devil’s Throat, where the water falls in an impressive semicircle into what seems like a mythic end of the world. Between the light rain and the spray from the falls, we got wet—and hungry. After a delicious barbecue, we headed to two other sites, the Triple Frontier and the House of Hummingbirds.
At the Triple Frontier, we counted birds flying from Brazil or Argentina into Paraguay, as noted in our checklist. We finished the day at a family home that has become a birding icon in Puerto Iguazú, the Jardín de Picaflores. Seeing hummingbirds is always great, but having such close encounters with them is on another level entirely. Among the specialties of the area, we added Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Black Jacobin, Planalto Hermit, and White-throated Hummingbird. With seven species of these winged gems on our list, we headed back to Brazil to enjoy another great dinner.
Our last morning at Iguaçu Falls found us facing another light rain; nevertheless, we were determined to add birds to the trip list. We left the hotel early to bird our way out of the park. The rain only got heavier as we drove toward the lookout, so we turned back toward the entrance. Then, magically, the clouds opened to reveal a blue sky, and the birds started singing. We were not going to miss this opportunity, and as we stepped out of the van to inspect the forest edge, we were already hearing White-eyed Foliage-gleaner. We would subsequently see the astonishing Spot-billed Toucanet, the Atlantic Black-throated Trogon, and the Blond-crested Woodpecker: what a trifecta of superb birds! Happy to have had such a productive half hour, we headed to the airport for our flight to Rio and on to Cuiabá, where our next destination lay—the Pantanal.
Day-by-Day Summary
June 17 - Arrival at Iguaçu Falls and first exploration of the Atlantic Rainforest. We quickly experienced the spectacle of the falls and enjoyed early birding highlights, including the charismatic Black-fronted Piping-Guan, Toco Toucan, and other colorful species around the hotel grounds.
June 18 - Birding the Brazilian side along Poço Preto Road produced São Paulo Bristle-Tyrant, Southern Antpipit, and several forest species. Heavy rain pushed us to sheltered birding, where we added Snail Kite, Cocoi Heron, Great Egret, and Riverbank Warbler from the restaurant terrace.
June 19 - Crossed into Argentina to explore Iguazú National Park, with highlights including thrushes, ant-tanagers, Ochre-collared Piculet, Eared Pygmy-Tyrant, and multiple tanager species. A possible juvenile Bicolored Hawk provided an exciting raptor highlight and was later confirmed by experts.
June 20 - Full day around Iguazú Falls, walking to the Devil’s Throat and enjoying Amazon Kingfisher, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, and the overwhelming spectacle of the falls. In the afternoon we visited the Triple Frontier and the Jardín de Picaflores, where seven hummingbird species, including Black Jacobin and Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, provided a spectacular finale.
June 21 - Final morning birding in shifting weather conditions, with a dramatic burst of activity after the clouds broke. Highlights included White-eyed Foliage-gleaner, Spot-billed Toucanet, Atlantic Black-throated Trogon, and Blond-crested Woodpecker before departure for Cuiabá and onward to the Pantanal.
Wildlife Seen:
MAMMALS:
Brown (or Tufted) Capuchin (Cebus apella).
Lesser Cavy (Cavia sp.).
Agouti sp. (Dasyprocta sp.).
Red Brocket Deer (Mazama americana).
FISH:
Spotted Sorubim - Catfish (Pseudoplatystoma corruscans).