Bird Watching Tours
Brazil hosts one of the largest variety of birds in the world – more than 1.700 identified species. Over the past 20 years, more new species of birds were discovered here than in any other part of the world.
The environment in Santa Catarina is very diverse and is home to a great variety of birds that can be watched in a few places that bring together many species.
Florianópolis with its environmental diversity of beaches, dunes, forests, wetland, lakes and swamps, is home to over 300 species that were already reported here.
The inland and the mountains are home to rare birds that can only be found there, like the Long-tailed Cinclodes (Cinclodes pabsti), the Long-billed Antwren (Stymphalornis acutirostris) and the Kaempfer’s Tody-Tyrant (Hemitriccus kaempferi).
Touristic Tour: – You will have the opportunity to observe Santa Catarina Island´s most interesting feathered creatures during a magical walk along the shores of Perí Pond. The pond is one of the most beautiful local spots, where birds can be observed from canoes in the water or from the walking trails.
This excursion takes approximately 4 hours and has a low level of difficulty, so anybody can participate
Beginner Tour – (2 days) around Florianópolis Island.
In the morning the wetlands and plains are home to small nests of heron, Donacospiza albifrons, Emberizoides ypiranganus, Tangara peruviana among others. In the afternoon we will drive to the center-east of the island to watch coastal sea birds, ducks, Pseudoleistes virescens. On the 2nd day, we will go to the center-east of the island before sunrise to watch the Slope Atlantic Forest. Several forest birds are specialists of the sub-forest and of the top of the trees, hawks, Ortalis guttat, hummingbirds, toucans Ramphastos dicolorus and Ramphastos vitellinus, Cyanocorax caeruleus, Chiroxiphia caudata. In the afternoon we will drive to the center-south of the island to watch several kinds of blowpipe, frigate, seagulls, and other coastal and wetland birds, among them the Rallus longirostris and the Agelasticus thiliu.
Professional Tour I – (4 days) Includes the 2 days of the beginner tours plus the state park of Tabuleiro Mountains.Maciambú wetland to watch the wetland, humid fields, creeping vegetation and plain land vegetation. Ducks, hawks, Phylloscartes kronei, Manacus manacus and the Amblyramphus holosericeus. – São Bonifácio mountains to watch the Slope Atlantic Forest, araucaria trees, foggy forest and highlands. Several forest birds, including specialist of the sub-forest and of the top of the trees, hawks, toucans, psitacídeos, hummingbirds, Aburria jacuting, Picumnus nebulosus, and the Carpornis cucullata.
Professional Tour II – (9 days) Bird watching in Santa Catarina State.
Includes all activities of Professional Tour I, plus Urubici and Itapoá.
At the end of the 4th day the tour drives to Urubici. Arrival and check-in at some of the pousadas in the city. On the next 2 days we will be at araucaria forest and fields. We will watch the Vinaceous Parrot (Amazona vinacea), the Red-spectacled Parrot (Amazona pretrei), the Band-winged Nightjar (Caprimulgus longirostris), the Mottled Piculet (Picumnus nebulosus), the Araucaria Tit-Spinetail (Leptasthenura setaria), the Long-tailed Cinclodes (Cinclodes pabsti) and other highland birds.
On the 7th day, 4 hours drive to Itapoá, in the north shore of Santa Catarina. We will arrive at the Volta Velha Reserve. Check-in at the posada. Optional trails in the area.. In the morning, before sunrise, trails in the Reserve to watch the Atlantic Forest of plain land, wetland. Several forest birds, like the Long-billed Antwren (Stymphalornis acutirostris) and the Kaempfer’s Tody-Tyrant (Hemitriccus kaempferi) can be seen. On the next morning, trails in the Reserve to watch the Atlantic Forest of plain land, wetland. Several forest birds, like the Long-billed Antwren (Stymphalornis acutirostris) and the Kaempfer’s Tody-Tyrant (Hemitriccus kaempferi). Drive back to Florianópolis in the early afternoon.
The tours ( expect for the touristic tour) are guided by a bird specialist graduated in biology by the UFSC (Federal University of Santa Catarina) and mastered in Ecology and Conservation by the UFPR (Federal University of Paraná). He has been working with birds in the south of Brazil for the last ten years.
All activities are subject to weather conditions.
