BRAZIL 2026 part 2: Caxias (21-26 April)

Tuesday 21 April 2026. Travel day across Brazil. We drove to Sinop Airport seeing Picazuro Pigeon, Southern Lapwing and 3 Burrowing Owls on the way. Eduardo saw us off before returning the vehicle and flying home to Cuiba. We took Latam flights from Sinop to Sao Paulo (10:00-13:30) and Sao Paulo to Teresina (14:30-17:35), losing an hour flying to Sao Paulo (in a different time zone) then getting it back in Teresina. We arrived in pouring rain, were met by our guide and Ground Cuckoo expert Luis who had hired a similar vehicle and drove us for an hour to the Eldorado Hotel in Caxias. The ‘gold’ we were after was Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo, a species Nick and I had failed to come across on previous trips to Costa Rica and Panama.We were quietly confident but still a bit anxious here.

Wednesday 22 April 2026. We had breakfast in the hotel at 06:00 and drove out of Caxias to a dirt road that went through a smallish forest patch. It was probably not dissimilar to any other although part of it seemed to double as a fly tip site with an unpleasant smell and attendant Black Vultures. Fortunately we continued some way past it before stopping and walking into the woodland on a narrow trail. Luis played a recording and soon received a response. He unrolled a long camouflage net and affixed it to a couple of trees for us to stand behind. We did and after a bit more playback a Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo appeared although it didn’t stay still long enough for me to photograph it. We moved a short distance to different area of forest, no fly-tipping here, and saw another Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo, this one remaining partially hidden in vegetation before dropping to the ground and running off. A Hooded Gnateater was more obliging. We returned Caxias for an early lunch and a bit of down time before heading to two more areas. The first had a very responsive Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo which hopped up onto a log in full view for just long enough for my camera lens to extend but it had dropped and run off before I could focus. Perhaps the main disadvantage of a Bridge Camera It showed briefly several times before sitting above the ground, much as the first had, but I was unsighted and it moved when I did. Amazing to see three Ground Cuckoos on our first day. We continued to a more open area hoping to find Kaempfer’s Woodpecker. No luck but we did see Crescent-chested Puffbird, Barred Antshrike and White-naped Jay. Other birds I saw during the day included Spotted Piculet, Southern White-fringed Antwren and East Amazonian Fire-eye.

Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo at Caxias (our second bird)

our third Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo at Caxias (photos: Luis Morais)

another five seconds on this perch and I might have managed similar (photos: Luis Morais)

Hooded Gnateater at Caxias

Barred Antshrike at Caxias

Thursday 23 April 2026. Breakfast at 06:00 after which we drove to a different forest patch and birded to late morning. Returned to Caxias for lunch and back out 15:30-17:30 in another forest patch with some bamboo. Birds seen included Kaempfer’s Woodpecker, Pectoral Antwren, Rufous-capped Antthrush, White-naped Jay and Grey Pileated Finch. A bit of a thin day, some nice birds but I was a bit disappointed we’d seen no more Ground Cuckoos, not least as I was hoping to improve my photos.

Rufous-capped Antthrush at Caxias

Friday 24 April 2026. Breakfast at 06:00 and drove to further from Caxias to an open dryer woodland where we birded until mid morning when it became too hot. The heat was getting to me and I ended up sitting in the shade but did manage to see White-eared and Spot-backed Puffbirds, Barred Antshrike, Grassland Sparrow and Grey Pileated, Blue and Coal-crested Finches. We returned to Caxias for lunch, which I skipped, and were back out mid-afternoon to another bamboo patch reached along a muddy track. Here we saw Black-breasted Aracari, Kaempfer’s Woodpecker, Smoky-fronted Tody-Flycatcher and the undescribed Maranhao-Piaui Tody-Tyrant. I heard Small-billed Tinamou and also saw Squirrel Cuckoo, Glittering-throated Emerald, Greater Yellow-headed Vulture, Blue-crowned Trogon, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Peach-fronted Parakeet, Plain-crested Elaenia, Mouse-coloured Tyranulet and Hooded Tanager.

Spot-backed Puffbird near Caxias

Blue Finch near Caxias

male Coal-crested Finch near Caxias

I was very pleased to see this very smart bird as one Nick found at Chapada dos Guiamares in 1988 flew off and away just as I was getting onto it and we didn't have time to follow it up

male and female Coal-crested Finch near Caxias

White-eared Puffbird near Caxias

Smoky-fronted Tody-Flycatcher near Caxias

Black-necked Aracaris near Caxais

Saturday 25 April 2026. We left early and drove for an hour to Terasina. In secondary growth around the back of the University we soon saw our remaining target Buff-browed Chachalaca. Luis then took Andreas and Shane to the airport, there had been some confusion as to when the tour actually ended and Andreas was leaving a day earlier than Nick and me, Shane very early before us. We continued birding behind the University seeing Guira Cuckoo, Greater Ani, Southern Lapwing, Wattled Jacana, Rufescent Tiger and Striated Herons, Fork-tailed Palm Swift, Roadside Hawk, Lettered and Black-necked Aracaris, Crimson-crested and Little Woodpeckers, Yellow-chevroned and Peach-fronted Parakeets, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, a misidentified Wing-banded Hornero, Black-capped Donacobius, Saffron Finch and Palm Tanager. We were dropped off at the hotel where we spent the afternoon sorting out stuff. We walked the short distance to the airport to see how long it would take - 10 minutes as it turned out - seeing Masked Water Tyrant in the scrub outside.

Saffron Finch at Terasina

Lettered Arcacari at Terasina

Buff-browed Chachalaca at Terasina

Striated Heron at Terasina

Straight-billed Woodcreeper at Terasina

Wattled Jacana at Terasina

Wing-banded Hornero at Terasina

Little Woodpeckers at Terasina

Guira Cuckoo at Terasina

Smooth-billed Ani at Terasina

Peach-fronted Parakeet at Terasina

Yellow-chevroned Parakeet at Terasina

Black-capped Donacobius at Terasina

noisy birds

male and female Land Iguana at Terasina

Greater Ani at Terasina

Rufescent Tiger Heron at Terasina

Sunday 26 April 2026. We walked to Teresina Airport, checked in for our flight and birded in scrub outside the airport. I saw Smooth-billed Ani, Scaled and Ruddy Ground Doves, Black Vulture, Fork-tailed Palm Swift, Greater Kiskadee, Masked Water-Tyrant, Wing-banded Hornero, Grey-breasted Martin, Common Waxbill and Saffron Finch. Latam Teresina 11:35-14:45 Sao Paulo where an 11 hour wait, then Latam 23:50-15:05* LHR.

immaculate Masked Water Tyrant at Terasina Airport, one of four present

Great Kiskadee at Terasina Airport

Scaled Doves at Terasina Airport

Monday 27 April 2026. An uneventful flight home arriving on time at Heathrow at 15:00. I caught an earlier than expected National Express bus to Brighton then the Coastliner to Shoreham where Megan and Otis met me. It had been a successful if all too brief trip, very much concentrating on the few targets. I'd seen 15 new birds, perhaps my hopes of a few more were a bit unrealistic in the time available but I'm very glad I went.