Minas Gerais States

Day 1 and 4 - Arrival and reception at São Paulo International Airport, Guarulhos. Transfer to Serra da Canastra National Park, Minas Gerais state (around 7hr drive). Located 540 km São Paulo city, the Serra da Canastra National Park is a large area of 72,000 ha. composed mainly of “cerrados” and “campo limpo” (grasslands) on the plateaus and riparian forest along the head waters of the Sao Francisco River, one of the largest in Brazil. After checking in at the hotel, we will go birding until the end of the day. Dinner and check list.

During the next few days, we will look for the birds of the area, both the high areas of the plateau as well as the lowlands, which shelter well preserved areas of Atlantic rain forest. The park is famous for its many beautiful waterfalls, among which is the spectacular Casca d’Anta (nearly 80 meters high). Canastra is widely known as the best location to see several species of birds, such as the Spotted Nothura, Small-billed and Red-winged Tinamou, Brazilian Merganser, Crowned Eagle, Blackish Rail, Golden-capped Parakeet, Stripe breasted Starthroat, Collared Crescentchest, Brasilia Tapaculo, Campo Miner, Firewood-Gatherer, Southern Bristle-Tyrant, Sharp-tailed Tyrant, Cock-tailed Tyrant, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Pin-tailed and Helmeted Manakin, Ochre-breasted Pipit, Tawny-headed Swallow, Curl-crested Jay, Sedge Wren, Black-throated Saltator, White-rumped Tanager, Stripe-tailed Yellow-Finch, Black-masked Finch and the White-striped Warbler. Night excursions often prove to be very productive with great chances of seeing Least Nighthawk, Sickle-winged and Band-winged Nightjar, Short-eared and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.

Day 5 - Early breakfast and check out of the hotel. We will drive to the direction of Pompéu city (5hr drive), home of a great number of uncommon species. Target birds for the afternoon will be Ocellated Crake, Rufous-sided Crake, Gray-breasted Crake, Rufous-faced Crake, Ash-throated Crake, Paint-billed Crake, Giant Snipe, Biscutate Swift, Horned Sungem, Spot-backed Puffbird, Rusty-breasted Nunlet, White-wedged Piculet, Checkered Woodpecker, Collared Forest-Falcon, Collared Crescentchest, Campo Miner, Wing-banded Hornero, Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner, Chotoy Spinetail, Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin, Southern Scrub-Flycatcher, Cliff Swallow, Blue Finch, Scarlet-throated Tanager, Coal-crested Finch and Copper Seedeater. Opportunities are good for night birding and we will look for Rufous Nightjar, Little Nightjar, Spot-tailed Nightjar, Scissor-tailed Nightjar and Nacunda Nighthawk. Dinner and check list.

Day 6 - Early breakfast and all day birding at Pompéu city. Today we will be looking for any remaining Pompéu rarities which we may not yet have seen already and which are present only here. Night birding to search for any species that we have not seen. Dinner and checklist.

Day 7 - After an early morning breakfast, we will go birding around Pompéu city looking for birds that we haven’t seen during the tour. After lunch, we will begin our journey to the Serra do Caraça Reserve which surrounds a monastery located in the southern part of the Espinhaço mountain range. This reserve possesses an extremely diversified fauna and flora. At higher altitudes, in the campos rupestres, species endemic to the Espinhaço Mountains, such as Hyacinth Visorbearer, Rock Tapaculo, Gray-backed Tachuri and Pale-throated Serra-Finch may be found. At lower altitudes there is an area of humid forest where we can look for many Atlantic forest bird species, such as Surucua Trogon, White-breasted Tapaculo, Crescent-chested Puffbird, White-bibbed and Serra Antbird, Swallow-tailed Cotinga, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Gilt-edged and Hepatic Tanager and the Serra-do-Mar Tyrant-Manakin. Night excursions often prove to be very productive with good chances of seeing Ocellated Poorwill and Tawny-browed Owl. Dinner and check list.

Day 8 - After an early morning breakfast we will spend the day birding the trails around the monastery looking for birds that we have not seen during the tour. Dinner and check list.

Day 9 - After an early morning breakfast, we will drive around three hours to Serra do Cipó National Park. This park lies at one end of the Serra do Espinhaço mountain range, 110 km from the city of Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais. It ranges from sub montane habitats at 800 m, through cerrado and campo rupestre (rocky outcrops with highly specialized plant forms) to high altitude grasslands with spectacular scenery at around 1200m. After we check in and have lunch at the hotel, we will begin to look for some interesting bird species, such as Giant Snipe, Hyacinth Visorbearer, Horned Sungem, Marsh Tapaculo, Gray-backed Tachuri, Yellow-billed Blue Finch, Pale-throated Pampa-Finch, Cinereous Warbling-Finch, Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner, Cipo Canastero and the Cipo Cinclodes. Night excursions often prove to be very productive with opportunities to see Band-winged and Spot-tailed Nightjar and Tropical Screech-Owl. Dinner and check list.

Day 10 - After an early morning breakfast we will spend the morning birding the trails around the Serra do Cipó looking for birds that we have not seen during the tour. After lunch and check list, we will drive 1:30hr to Tancredo Neves International Airport, Belo Horizonte city – END OF THE TRIP.