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Brazil - Northeast - Mega Birding Tour

© Blue Finch by Dusan Brinkhuizen
Brazil - Northeast - Mega Birding Tour 2025

17 Sep 2025 - 13 Oct 2025 (27 days)

BRL58,950 - 4 Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Robert Williams

Tour price (Per person): BRL58,950 * USD9,521 * GBP7,592 * EUR9,161 * AUD15,286

Single Supplement: BRL4,600 * USD743 * GBP592 * EUR715 * AUD1,193

Brazil - Northeast - Mega Birding Tour 2026

16 Oct 2026 - 11 Nov 2026 (27 days)

BRL61,300 - Spaces Available

Book Now

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Tour Leader: Robert Williams

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

Tour price (Per person): BRL61,300 * USD9,900 * GBP7,895 * EUR9,527 * AUD15,896

Northeast Brazil is a land of outstanding contrast: from gorgeous white-sand beaches, to arid, cactus-topped plateaus, and the humid montane slopes in between. This region has all the beauty and diversity that any birder could ever hope for. Perhaps what this area is best known for, however, is the stunning array of beautiful endemics that flourish in the diverse habitats of Ceara, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Bahia and Espiritu Santo. With this in mind, our tour explores all the best sites in this fascinating region and offers an impressive bird list that includes Lear’s (Indigo) Macaw, the striking Araripe Manakin and rare, White-collared Kite!

We begin in the state of Ceara, visiting Serra de Baturite for Grey-breasted Parakeet, Ceara Gnateater and Buff-breasted Tody-Tyrant, before heading to Quixada for the rarely recorded Pygmy Nightjar and White-browed Guan. Chapada do Araripe puts us in position for the recently described Araripe Manakin and other superb species such as White-browed Antpitta and Great Xenops in advance of our visit to Canudos for the Critically Endangered Lear’s Macaw! The birding continues apace, as we head to São Benedito do Sul for a plethora of sought-after species; Scalloped Antbird, incredibly adorned Seven-colored Tanager, Orange-bellied Antwren and Alagoas Tyrannulet. White-collared Kite, Forbes’ Blackbird, Pinto’s Spinetail and Yellow-faced Siskin make up the target species near Tamandare before we head to Estancia for the endangered Fringe-backed Fire-eye. The next featured location is one of the best birding sites in Brazil, Chapada Diamantina. Hailed as perhaps the most breathtakingly beautiful of all Brazilian National Parks, it hosts several localised endemics including Hooded Visorbearer, the recently described Sincorá Antwren, Grey-backed Tachuri and Diamantina Tapaculo.

We then head towards the coast and Boa Nova. Located in the southwest of Bahia state where the Montane Atlantic forests meets Caatinga, this diverse location hosts over 430 bird species. Here we shall search diligently for the highly localised Slender Antbird, Narrow-billed Antwren, Bahia Spinetail and Pin-tailed Manakin. We spend some time in the delightful Serra Bonita Reserve, host to Pink-legged Graveteiro, Plumbeous Antvireo, Bahia Tyrannulet and Crescent-chested Puffbird before taking in the coastal lowlands of Porto Seguro where targets include White-winged Potoo, White-winged Cotinga, Bahia Antwren, Ochre-marked Parakeet, Red-browed Amazon and the rare Banded Cotinga.

We finish the tour in Espiritu Santo, visiting Vargem Alta in search of enigmatic, critically endangered Cherry-throated Tanager and Linhares for Red-billed Curassow. There are few tours that can offer over 100 endemics in a matter of 27 days, but this tour of Northeast Brazil does just that!

Top Birds

Cherry-throated & Seven-colored Tanagers; Lear’s (Indigo) Macaw; Araripe Manakin; Red-billed Curassow; White-collared Kite; Grey-breasted Parakeet; Ceara Gnateater; Buff-breasted Tody-Tyrant; Pygmy Nightjar; White-browed Guan; White-browed Antpitta; Great Xenops; Scalloped & Slender Antbirds, Alagoas Tyrannulet; Forbes’ Blackbird; Pinto’s & Bahia Spinetails; Yellow-faced Siskin; Fringe-backed Fire-eye; Hooded Visorbearer; Sincorá, Narrow-billed, Bahia & Orange-bellied Antwrens; Grey-backed Tachuri; Pink-legged Graveteiro; Plumbeous Antvireo; Bahia Tyrannulet; Crescent-chested Puffbird; Diamantina Tapaculo; Pin-tailed Manakin; White-winged Potoo; White-winged & Banded Cotingas; Ochre-marked Parakeet; Red-browed Amazon.

Habitats Covered

humid and semi-deciduous forests, Atlantic Rainforest, chapada, cloud forest, lowland forest, dry forest, scrub, caatinga and cerrado

Expected Climate

warm to hot and humid, cooler in the higher lying areas

Max Group Size

8 with 1 Rockjumper leader & 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

mostly comfortable, with some rustic locations

Ease of Birding

moderate with some tricky species

Number of Species Expected

>500 with +-100 endemics

Photographic Opportunities

worthwhile, but limited by time

What our clients say about us

Tuomas Seimola
RB - Manaus 2022

Overall we were very pleased with the trip. We have been to the tropics in various places in SA but hadn’t really experienced the heat of the Amazon. At first I was concerned about the siesta in early afternoon and the loss of bird time but by the third day I looked forward to it!! The lack of ant swarms, foliage-gleaners and mixed foraging flocks was disappointing. Some of the key target species had not been seen by local guides for several months to over a year. We hope it is not an on-going trend due to climate change but it may be. We felt fortunate to have had the opportunity and hope that others can continue to have this experience. We were pleased with the “tag-team effort” by Tuomas and Bradley. They worked well together with making sure the logistics flowed, everyone had their needs met as much as possible, and kept the pace moving. We were fortunate to have 8 people that had all travelled in groups before and were tolerant of various personalities and their strengths and weaknesses. Both Tuomas and Bradley were patient and talented in getting everyone (usually) in the group to see the target species. I will be giving a presentation to the local Audubon Chapter in November and will be recommending Rockjumper and their various trips to the group.

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.

Stephan Lorenz
EA - Brazil

The trip was excellent, and there is no praise too high for Stephan Lorenz!

Robert Williams
JH, Brazil 2018

Rob Williams was helpful above and beyond the call by going out of his way to make it an enjoyable tour.

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.

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