Brazil Birding Tours
Brazil is perhaps the world’s ultimate birding destination, this huge landmass being home to 240 endemic birds plus 130 near-endemics across an extraordinary diversity of habitats. Each region offers something distinct, but for newcomers to the country it is the threatened remnants of Atlantic Forest which often hold the most appeal (and also the majority of the Brazilian endemics).
Most of the vast Amazon Rainforest is encompassed by Brazil, so it is certainly the place where the best bird tours for extremely high Amazonian diversity can be achieved. Some of our itineraries regularly record more than 500 species in just over two weeks with 10% of them being country specialties. Then the transitional band of dry forest from the Pantanal to Tocantins holds even more endemics and truly magnificent birding.
Brazil: Central Amazonia
Seek out the endemics of Amazonas, birding around Manaus and along the mighty Amazon River in the middle of the world's largest rainforest. Range-restricted specialties like Chestnut-crested Antbird, Varzea Piculet, and Blue-backed Tanager, plus Guianan Cock-of-the-rock and the unique Capuchinbird!
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Brazil: Eastern Amazonia
Endemics and specialties of the lower Amazon. Birding around the river mouth at Belém, the north bank at Monte Alegre, along the Tapajós River, and several days in Carajás Reserve. Includes Vulturine Parrot, Sulphur-breasted Parakeet, Harlequin Antbird, and Black-chested Tyrant.
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Brazil: Emas & Tocantins
Short circuit of Brazil’s rarely-visited central states, with hard-to-access specialties like Kaempfer’s Woodpecker, Pfrimer’s Parakeet, Blaze-winged Parakeet, White-winged Nightjar, Sickle-winged Nightjar, Crimson-fronted Cardinal, and excellent chances for mammals like Maned Wolf.
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Brazil: Far South
Exploring the grasslands and wetlands of Rio Grande do Sul, including South American Painted Snipe, endemic Black-bellied Seedeater, the strange Sickle-winged Nightjar, plus Saffron-cowled Blackbird, Black-and-white Monjita, displaying Bare-throated Bellbirds, and so much more.
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Brazil: Ground Cuckoo Expedition
We are taking expressions of interest for this trip to target Scaled Ground Cuckoo and Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo, however exact dates cannot be confirmed until early 2026. Other possible species include Bald Parrot, Kaempfer's Woodpecker, Golden-crowned Manakin, and a huge array of other tricky Amazonian specialties.
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Brazil: Interior
Explore the magnificent Canastra National Park in search of Brazilian Merganser, Cock-tailed Tyrant, and Blue Finch before heading east across Minas Gerais towards Hyacinth Visorbearer and Blue-eyed Ground Dove! Mammals will hopefully include both Giant Anteater and Maned Wolf.
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Brazil: North-East
This special tour explores the remnant Atlantic Forest and surrounds, targeting many superb species such as Araripe Manakin in what is certainly one of the most threatened avifaunas in the world.
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Brazil: Pantanal & Mato Grosso
Covering three major biomes, we sample the Pantanal, Amazon and Cerrado. Specialties include Zigzag Heron, Hyacinth Macaw, Horned Sungem, Rusty-necked Piculet, Pompadour Cotinga, and Cone-billed Tanager, with an optional two-night extension for the famous Jaguar boat cruise!
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Brazil: South-East Atlantic Forest
Visiting the best protected areas to find close to 100 Brazilian endemics and 200 Atlantic Forest specialties, with rarities like Red-billed Curassow, Cherry-throated Tanager, Saffron Toucanet, Three-toed Jacamar, Black-hooded Antwren, Giant Antshrike, Sharpbill, and Black-capped Piprites all in the script.
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Brazil: South-West Amazonia
Specialities of the little-visited but bird-rich Rondonia, Inambari and Acre regions. Includes four days at PiraAçu Lodge, an astounding new birding destination in the deep Amazon! White-breasted Antbird, Pale-faced Bare-eye, Rondonia Bushbird, and Predicted Antwren are all likely.
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The Ornis Birding Strategy in Brazil
Once blanketing an area close to 1,400,000km² (larger than modern-day Peru) and stretching 1000km inland at some points, the current reduction of Atlantic Forest has exceeded 88% and only a handful of patches are still large enough to support healthy ecosystems. Between them, our comprehensive Brazil: North-East and complementing Brazil: South-East bird tours cover more than 110 of Brazil's true endemics, plus another 50 specialties which sneak into adjacent countries but are best found in the country.
The Amazonian Basin in Brazil offers some of the most exciting birding in South America, with lots of truly rare or hard-to-find specialties always possible. Our two flagship tours designed to pull out the maximum number of Brazilian specialties from the vast biodiversity of this rainforest are Brazil: Eastern Amazonia and Brazil: South-West Amazonia, which collectively cover 50 species which are only commonly seen in these regions. All while exploring some of the most pristinely vast terre firme and varzea forests in the world!
For those counting, that leaves about 160 endemics and specialties. Around half of these can be found on our fabulous Brazil: Interior route which explores the belt of drier habitats between the Atlantic Forest and the Amazon. Birding in the extensive campo rupestre grasslands or bird-filled caatinga scrub is truly enjoyable, and several of our tour leaders consider this particular route one of the best bird tours in the world!
Seeing everything in Brazil would require half a lifetime, but we do our best to also put on more specialised trips and exciting expeditions whenever possible. The remaining tours not discussed here each have their own special set of Brazilian endemics, with all providing exciting moments and truly memorable bird quests in this hugely diverse country.