Serra da Cantareira, Sao Paulo, Brazil
08 June 2005.

I’ve just got back into the hotel after a rather long but very exciting day wandering around the Serra da Cantareira, an almost 8000ha chunk of remnant rainforest high above the pollution and chaos of São Paulo.

The park is, so websites say, located just 10 km north of downtown São Paulo (which with an estimated population of over 19,000,000 is one of the largest cities in the world - a fact that is all-too-hard to ignore as you fly in through a thick haze of smoke and pollution - so bear in mind that “downtown” is a rather loose term) and together with the Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro is one of the largest urban forests in the world.

Serra da Cantareira has a huge bird list, as you’d expect from a forest in South America, but in fact I didn’t really see as many birds as I’d hoped: the reasons are a combination of lack of time (more on which below), thinking I knew far more about the birds of this part of Brazil than I really did (especially compared with a local birder who knows the calls - which I don’t - and knows which ones are worth following up and which aren’t), and thinking I could just roll up to a huge National park without much prior info and hit the best sites straight away. Having said that I did of course have a very enjoyable stroll through some beautiful forest, surrounded by odd whistles, frustratingly brief glimpses of shadows slipping silently away, and some stunning birds.

I almost didn’t get to see anything, incidentally, and for any birders planning to visit Serra de C the following may be of interest. The whole day could have gone very wrong because when I was dropped off bright and very early by a taxi at what I thought was the main gate…

• a) it wasn’t the main gate
• b) the park wasn’t open until 09:00
• c) the park is - unbelievably - ONLY open at the weekends (and this was a wednesday)

…at least that’s what I think the park personnel blocking the entrance were saying because none of them spoke any English, and I speak no Portugese. Anyway, they weren’t going to let me in - I understood that much - which would have made birding rather difficult obviously…

Now considering I’d only flown in from the UK the day before I’d come rather a long way for a day of Tanagers and Woodcreepers and there was no way at all I was going to stand outside the main gates until I was absolutely sure that I understood what I was being told. And they weren’t going to let me stand inside whether I understood or not. An impasse developed that unless I was going to bulldoze forward like an aggrieved prop-forward and knock people out of the way - never a good idea of course - didn’t seem likely to be cleared…

Just when I thought things were going to get really disappointing, the good Bird God smiled on me again - and the frustrated staff decided that as I didn’t have a car and I wasn’t going to go away the best thing to do was to drive me round to the Park Headquarters and let them deal with me instead…

A good move for all concerned, because, to cut a long story short, after a few phone-calls and a check that I was just a lost and overheated birder and wasn’t a commercial photographer of any sort, the wardens/staff at Serra da Cantareira HQ sorted everything out and allowed me to head off into the forest for the rest of the day - my thanks to them…

About 1000m from the main entrance: “For Birding Paradise go uphill; for cars, pollution, and noise please go back downhill…”

A long and winding - and extremely undulating - road…

“Any colour you like - as long as it’s one of a thousand shades of green…”

Southern (Crested) Caracara Polyborus plancus:
Split from the similar Northern Caracara in 1999/2000, the Southern Caracara is found south of the Amazon down to the tip of South America.

Variable Antshrike Thamnophilus caerulescens:
There are 12 subspecies of Variable Antshrike, and males are highly “variable” across its wide range - which is from Peru and Bolivia to Paraguay, northern Argentina and southern Brazil, with a disjunct population in north east Brazil. The bird below is a female. A common species, Variable Antshrikes are conspicuous members of bird parties.

Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner Philydor rufum:
The Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner is distributed in Costa Rica and Panama, the coastal highlands of Venezuela, Andean highlands from Colombia to Bolivia and in southern Brazil. It is found in humid and montane forest.
A common and conspicuous member of bird-parties at Serra da Cantareira, this individual was one of a group of about ten near the Administration Centre (for more images click here)

White-throated Woodcreeper Xiphocolaptes albicollis:
The White-throated Woodcreeper is more or less confined to S E Brazil. Literature implies that it forms a sometimes tricky ID pair with the Planalto Woodcreeper Dendrocolaptes platyrostris (which is not listed for S da C), but as the name suggests - and the photo shows - the former has an unstreaked white throat unlike Planalto which has a streaked throat. Additionally the bill of White-throated is decurved and dark, the bill of the Planalto straighter and often pale-tipped, and the White-throated is notably larger and bulkier.

Planalto Woodcreeper Dendrocolaptes platyrostris:
The Planalto Woodcreeper has an extensive range in E South America. Literature implies that it forms a sometimes tricky ID pair with the White-throated Woodcreeper Xiphocolaptes albicollis(see above for details). Though not listed in the online “Checklist of the Serra da Cantareira” (Edson Endrigo, Pedro Develey, and Luís F. Silveira), this photo does seem to show the salient features - including a dark, well-streaked head, and a dark bill with a pale tip.
I would of course welcome any relevant comments.

Lesser Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes fuscus:
The Lesser Woodcreeper is found from to e Brazil to e Paraguay and n Argentina. Identification is relatively straightforward: the species has a streaked back, a bi-coloured bill (dark upper mandible, pinkish lower) and as the name suggests is quite small (17-18 cm/ c)7″).

Blue Manakin Chiroxiphia caudata:
The Blue Manakin is distributed in south-east Brazil and into adjacent regions of Paraguay and Argentina. Males are a stunning mix of blue and black with a red crown, females - as the photo below demonstrates - are identifiable by a solidly green plumage and orange-toned legs.

White-throated Spadebill Platyrinchus mystaceus:
The White-throated Spadebill is usually found at high altitudes (600 to 2,000 metres) throughout most of its range in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Brazil. It normally remains fairly inconspicuous in the undergrowth and can be very difficult to photograph - unusually this individual was perching just a few metres off the tarmacced road in lighter than typical forest.

Golden-crowned Warbler Basileuterus culcivorum:
A widespread species, the Golden-crowned Warbler is a familiar representative of bird-parties, feeding actively mid-storey. The “golden-crown” that the species is named for is not always visible as the following photos demonstrate.

Fawn-breasted Tanager Pipraeidea melanonota:
Widely distributed through southern Brazil (and across to western South America), this stunning tanager is often found in bird-parties: this one was photographed close to the Admin Centre as part of a mixed bird flock feeding (before they were disturbed as I walked up, regrettably) in a low berry tree.

Black-goggled Tanager Trichothraupis melanops:
The Black-goggled Tanager is distributed in southern Brazil and adjacent areas of Argentina and Paraguay with a disjunct population along the eastern slopes of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia. The yellow crest is normally hidden, but shows well in the right-hand image.

Guianan Squirrel Sciurus aestuans ingrami

Trip List (note, numbers are in some cases approximate):
Names taken from the online “Checklist of the Serra da Cantareira” by Edson Endrigo, Pedro Develey, and Luís F. Silveira.

Black Vulture Coragyps atratus 8; Crested Caracara Polyborus plancus 4; Yellow-headed Caracara Milvago chimachima 1; Dusky-legged Guan Penelope obscura 4 (+ others heard); Spot-winged Wood Quail Odontophorus capueira 1; Reddish-bellied Parakeet Pyrrhura frontalis c)10; Scaly-headed Parrot Pionus maximiliani 1; Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cyana 2; Scale-throated Hermit Phaethornis eurynome 1; Violet-capped Woodnymph Thalurania glaucopsis 2; Surucua Trogon Trogon surracura 1; Red-breasted Toucan Ramphastos dicolorus 3-4; White-spotted Woodpecker Velilornis spilogaster 2-3; Variable Antshrike Thamnophilus caerulescens 2; Plain Antvireo Dysithamnus mentalis 2+; White-shouldered Fire-eye Pyriglena leucoptera 4; Rufous Gnateater Conopophaga lineata 1 (photo left); Rufous-capped Spinetail Synallaxis ruficapilla 1; Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaner Philydor rufus c)10; Black-capped Foliage-gleaner Philydor atricapillus 1+; Streaked Xenops Xenops rutilans 1; Olivaceous Woodcreeper Sittasomus griseicapillus 2; White-throated Woodcreeper Xiphocolaptes albicollis 2; Planalto Woodcreeper Dendrocolaptes platyrostris 1; Lesser Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes fuscus 1; Grey-hooded Flycatcher Mionectes rufiventris 2; Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet Phylloscartes ventralis 1; White-throated Spadebill Platyrinchus mystaceus 1; Social Flycatcher Myiozetetes similis 3; Blue Manakin Chiroxiphia caudata 3 (1imm m, 2 f); Rufous-bellied Thrush Turdus rufiventris 8-10; Creamy-bellied Thrush Turdus amaurochalinus 2; White-necked Thrush Turdus albicollis 1; Golden-crowned Warbler Basileuterus culicivorus 3; Bananaquit Coereba flaveola 3-4; Black-goggled Tanager Trichothraupis melanops c)10; Red-crowned Ant-tanager Habia rubica 6-10; Sayaca Tanager Thraupis sayaca 3-4; Fawn-breasted Tanager Pipraeidea melanonota 1; Blue-naped Chlorophonia Chlorophonia cyanea 3; Brassy-breasted Tanager Tangara desmaresti 20+; Blue Dacnis Dacnis cayana 1; Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis 6; Green-winged Saltator Saltator similis 1

(If you’re going to SE Brazil - or anywhere in South America - then check Arthur Grosset’s amazing site: loads of info and loads of photos.)

All photographs copyright Charlie Moores