What is your favorite bird species?
My favorite bird in Brazil is the Lear’s Macaw from North Bahia state.
What is your name, and where do you live?
My name is René Santos, I’m from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
What are the main regions or locations you cover as a bird guide?
I guide mostly in the Atlantic Rainforest of SE Brazil, but I also do lots of Pantanal, S Amazon, and Caatinga on the NE. Sometimes even Costa Rica.
Black-backed Tanager. Endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest (Picture by Marco Guedes)
How long have you been a bird guide?
I’m a biologist and I started guiding birdwatchers in 2006 at Ubatuba.
How did you get into bird guiding?
I used to work with birds under human care. Then I joined conservation projects of endangered parrots and all started as soon as I saw them flying free!
Red-breasted Toucan of SE Atlantic Forest
What are the aspects of being a bird guide that you like best? Which aspects do you dislike most?
The best part of being a birding guide is to always be close to nature and see the great biodiversity of Brazil up close. I get homesick after 2 to 3 weeks away on tours.
What are the top 5-10 birds in your region that you think are the most interesting for visiting birders?
Some of the best birds in Brazil are the Hyacinth and Lear’s Macaws. The almighty Harpy Eagle is always a target for everyone! The astonishing Pompadour and Banded Cotingas. The unique Swallow-tailed Cotinga is one of my favorite birds of the SE Atlantic Rainforest. On the NE of Brazil, the rare Araripe Manakin is quite something! The endemic Black-backed Tanager is to me the most interesting Tanager of Brazil.
Araripe Manakin. Critically Endangered from NE Brazil. (Picture by Antonio Nobre)
Can you outline at least one typical birdwatching trip in your area? Please briefly describe the locations, the key birds, and the approximate duration of such a trip.
One of my favorite Birding trips is in the SE Atlantic Rainforest. The forest is amazing and there are around 600 species to look for! The logistics are the easiest, the hotels are excellent and the food is awesome. One week to 10 days visiting:
1) Intervales State Park for Blue-bellied Parrots, Black-fronted Piping-guan, Swallow-tailed Cotingas, Atlantic Royal Flycatchers, Black-legged Dacnis, Red-ruffed Fruitcrows and many others…
2) Trilha dos Tucanos for Saffron Toucanets, Red-breasted Toucans, Azure-shouldered, Golden-chevroned, and Green-headed Tanagers…
3) Cananéia on the coast for the gorgeous Scarlet Ibis and also Black-headed Berryeater, Black-backed Tanager, Azure Jay, and Saw-billed Hermit..
There are several other great hotspots with bird feeders like Ubatuba, Itatiaia National Park, and Guapiaçu Ecological Reserve in Rio de Janeiro state.
Saffron Toucanet is one of the most wanted targets in SE Brazil
What other suggestions can you give to birders interested in your area?
Pantanal is one of the most busy places to bird in Brazil. Apart from lots and lots of birds for you to look for (like the Hyacinth Macaw) there is plenty of wildlife around like anteaters, tapirs, giant otters, anacondas, and of course the almighty jaguar! There are several other biomes full of exclusive birds like Amazon, Caatinga, and Cerrado.
Hyacinth Macaw
If any reader of 10,000 Birds is interested in birding with you, how can they best contact you?
The best way to find me is to search for Calyptura Expeditions online. That is my freelancing professional name. My email is renearara@gmail.com.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of 10,000 Birds?
Remember bird friends that when you visit natural areas for bird watching you are creating value to those areas and thus helping their conservation! In other words, Birding is Conservation!
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