phone-icon 1-888-990-5552 email-icon info@rockjumper.com
user-icon
Log in / Register

Brazil - Southeast - Mega Birding Tour

© Red-necked Tanager by Dusan Brinkhuizen
Brazil - Southeast - Mega Birding Tour 2025

28 Sep 2025 - 23 Oct 2025 (26 days)

BRL58,950 - 4 Spaces Available

Book Now

client-img

Tour Leader: Stuart Elsom

Tour price (Per person): BRL58,950 * USD9,522 * GBP7,603 * EUR9,166 * AUD15,290

Single Supplement: BRL5,250 * USD848 * GBP677 * EUR816 * AUD1,362

Brazil - Southeast - Mega Birding Tour 2026

27 Sep 2026 - 22 Oct 2026 (26 days)

BRL61,300 - Spaces Available

Book Now

client-img

Tour Leader: Dušan Brinkhuizen

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated and dates may change*

Tour price (Per person): BRL61,300 * USD9,901 * GBP7,906 * EUR9,532 * AUD15,899

When most people think of southeast Brazil they think of Rio, Carnivale, Sugarloaf Mountain and endless beaches. When birders think of southeast Brazil, they think – ENDEMICS. Amongst other claims to fame, Brazil hosts a spectacular array of endemic flora and fauna, including more than a reasonable share of stunning endemics. The southeast is a critical endemic zone, one that we will cover in a single Mega style tour.

From Rio de Janeiro, we’ll head north to the lowlands of REGUA for Rufous-capped Motmot and Crescent-chested Puffbird before ascending the mountains around Nova Friburgo in search of such delights as Grey-winged Cotinga, Three-toed Jacamar, Brassy-breasted Tanager and Green-crowned Plovercrest. Moving westwards, we’ll take in the famous sites of Itatiaia National Park, Paraty and Ubatuba for a plethora of new targets such as Itatiaia Spinetail, Serra do Mar Tyrannulet, Black-and-gold Cotinga, Black-hooded Antwren, Brazilian Ruby, Buff-throated Purpletuft and Sao Paulo Tyrannulet.

As we begin moving southwards, we’ll visit Salesópolis to find the recently described Sao Paulo Antwren, Peruíbe for roosting Red-tailed Amazons and the wetlands of Piracicaba for the skulking Spotted Rail both Yellow-breasted and Rufous-sided Crakes. We’ll spend a few days at Intervales State Park, one of the most exciting places to bird in the southeast. A never-ending list of great birds may include Giant Antshrike, Purple-crowned Plovercrest, Spotted Bamboowren or Long-trained Nightjar. The neighbouring Atlantic Forest of PETAR hosts several tricky species such as Such’s Antthrush, Yellow-legged Tinamou, Variegated Antpitta, Swallow-tailed Cotinga and Black-headed Berryeater.

The final stretch of the tours takes us to the southernmost Brazilian states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Superb birding in a lovely region infrequently visited by birders. The southernmost tip of the Atlantic Rainforest of the Serra do Mar reaches the north eastern corner of the state with scenic canyons and upland plateaus typically characterised by Araucaria moist forests.

Southwards, the habitat changes into Pampa plains and grasslands with very few trees. The habitat along the coastline consists of distinctive Restinga scrub with nutrient-poor coastal dunes, sandy peninsulas, shallow saltwater lagoons and extensive mudflats that are home to numerous resident and migrant bird species. We will bird a variety of different and exciting habitats searching for specialities such as Marsh (Parana) Antwren, Kaempfer’s Tody-Tyrant, Scaled Chachalaca, Restinga Tyrannulet, Russet-winged Spadebill, Striolated Tit-Spinetail, Long-tailed Cinclodes, Freckle-breasted Thornbird, Grey-throated Warbling Finch, Straight-billed Reedhaunter and Saffron-cowled Blackbird.

Top Birds

Sao Paulo, Black-hooded & Restinga Antwrens; Grey-winged, Swallow-tailed & Black-and-gold Cotingas; Brazilian, Brassy-breasted, Chestnut-headed & Diademed Tanagers; Sooretama Slaty Antshrike; Green-crowned & Purple-crowned Plovercrests; Three-toed Jacamar; Hangnest & Kaempfer's Tody-Tyrants; Saffron Toucanet; Black-capped Piprites; Brazilian Ruby; Surucua Trogon; Sao Paulo, Bay-ringed & Restinga Tyrannulets; Vinaceous-breasted & Red-tailed Amazons; Large-tailed & Giant Antshrikes; Bertoni’s Antbird; Araucaria & Striolated Tit-Spinetails; Spotted Rail; Rufous-sided & Yellow-breasted Crakes; Crested Doradito; Such’s Antthrush; Yellow-legged & Solitary Tinamous; Variegated Antpitta; Black-headed Berryeater; Canebrake Groundcreeper; Marsh Tapaculo; Spotted Bamboowren; Scaled Chachalaca; Creamy-bellied Gnatcatcher; Green-chinned Euphonia; Long-tailed Cinclodes; Saffron-cowled Blackbird; Chilean Flamingo; Coscoroba & Black-necked Swans; Pinnated Bittern.

Habitats Covered

lowland and montane Atlantic rainforest, cerrado, old cacao plantations, open grasslands with secondary forest, highland Araucaria forest, coastal restinga

Expected Climate

warm to hot and humid but much cooler in the higher lying areas

Max Group Size

8 with 1 Rockjumper leader and local birding leader

Tour Pace & Walking

DIFFICULT: This is a high-intensity “mega” tour designed for passionate listers and serious birders who enjoy a fast-paced schedule. Due to its demanding nature, it’s not recommended for avid photographers, inexperienced birders, or anyone with mobility or health limitations.

our Mega tours are very fast-paced birding adventures designed for the dedicated lister and serious birder. The focus of the tour is to see as many of the endemics and area specials as possible in our given time. In order to cover the necessary route to maximise the species list we tend to spend a single night at most sites and travel large distances. There is very little down time aside from that spent driving from one site to the next. These tours are not suitable for dedicated or avid photographers; inexperienced or new birders; as well as anyone with serious mobility or health challenges.

Accommodation

comfortable

Ease of Birding

moderate, with some very difficult species

Photographic Opportunities

good, but limited due to nature of tour

What our clients say about us

Forrest Rowland
BM, Brazil 2018

A Fantastic experience!! Considerably better than I had expected. Guides were fantastic!! And the inclusion of local Brazilian guide - Leo - was a real plus. He worked great together with Forrest Rowland, and his knowledge of the country and the vegetation was a real plus. The mammals and other critters were a real plus to the tour. The facilities, driver, and van were also great! Overall, this tour ranks among the top of the 7-8 birding tours I have ever taken, and Rockjumper is certainly a company I would highly recommend to others!!!

Lev Frid
PJ - Pantanal 2022

Lev was a well kept secret from Rock Jumper ....incredible birder , bird guide, and overall naturalist . Would book another trip with Lev

Tuomas Seimola
RB - Manaus Ext 2022

WOW – this was an entirely different trip than the main trip. The Pousada facility was a little more rustic than some of the other accommodations but nothing we couldn’t handle. It was certainly better than a hammock at the guard headquarters which Bradley indicated was the only thing available prior to Pousada. This portion required what seemed like a lot more walking and climbing over tree falls than anywhere else on the trip. It seemed that more of the birds were skulkers but then we were focusing on “ant-somethings” which are notoriously secretive. Again, it was disappointing there was not a single ant swarm and the mixed flocks were generally small and moved away from the trails fairly quickly. It was also frustrating that the best of the three trails (Capelinha) in the park was not available to us due to an on-going mammal-use survey. But, none of these things were within the control of Tuomas, Bradley, or our local guide. They were pros at adapting and modifying to take advantage of the trails that were available to us. By my count the main trip list was about 446 and we gained 81 sp on the extension, however, 40% of those were lifers, so worth the effort and expense, in my opinion. Our local guide, Gilberto, was indispensable. His recent knowledge was invaluable to know where to go for the target species.

Lev Frid
LW - Pantanal 2022

The tour was fantastic and both of our guides were excellent. We enjoyed traveling with Lev. He is so enthusiastic! He is an excellent birding guide and also very knowledgeable about the natural history of the animals we saw. That made the experience even more enjoyable. He worked very hard to enable us to see some of the trickier birds, like the Zigzag Heron that was hiding in the trees. It turns out, he even speaks 'zigzag', as he carried on a 10 min conversation (back and forth calls) with the heron, trying to coax him into a better view. It was wonderful having a local guide, Leo, on this trip as well. He added a lot to the birding experience, was essential for dealing with logistics, and had a wealth of knowledge about the history of Brazil and the places we visited, that made it an even more interesting trip. Well Done Rockjumper!!

Forrest Rowland
CS & CS - Brazil Tailor-made 2022

We had an unbelievably great tour. ALL the guides were extraordinary and fun to be around. They went out of their way to provide us non-birders with very interesting, novel activities. We all enjoyed seeing all the wildlife - it was beyond expectations. The 50th anniversary surprise was an unexpected, delightful treat. We don't know how the tour could have been any better.

  • Your details

  • This field is hidden when viewing the form

  • Contact permission

    We would love to send you Newsletters (twice yearly).via Type a message, Promotions/Discounts (weekly), Blog Articles/Image of the Month (monthly) and other content that we think you would find interesting. If you are happy with this then please select your preferences below. If you would like to unsubscribe from previous subscriptions, or leave our mailing list entirely, then please do so by visiting the Preference Centre link at the bottom of these emails.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Route Map

Tour Route Map

map-direction-img
Download Tour Itinerary
English