Pantanal Kingfishers

As you might expect for one of the world’s greatest wetlands, Kingfishers were not in short supply. There are only five species and we saw the lot – but the camera only caught up with two of these, so there’s not much diversity here!

The most obliging from a photographic point of view were Amazon Kingfishers, frequently remaining perched as the boat slid in closer and closer. The male has a large chestnut/rufous patch on the upper breast, while the female is metallic bottle green and white – both pretty smart!

The other species that got caught on camera was the huge Ringed Kingfisher – a fairly common, and often noisy, bird. We’d seen one or two of these in the Lower Rio Grande valley in Texas a few years previously.

Of the remaining three species, Green Kingfisher was reasonably common, but not as easy to see well, while American Pygmy Kingfisher and Green-and-rufous Kingfisher were only seen once or twice, in flight only.

Raptors of the Pantanal, part II

Another of the most common birds was Snail Kite, shown below in adult plumage with a striking red eye and slaty grey upperparts (and a slightly hazy photo – taking even half-decent photos in the heat of the day was nigh-on impossible out here).

The young Snail Kite shown below was ridiculously obliging, while struggling with a crab in a roadside bush. You would simply never be able to just slowly walk straight up to a bird of prey in the UK as I could with this one…

And finally, this is a Southern Caracara, just metres away from the same Snail Kite. I reckon it was trying its luck for a free meal, but didn’t get any joy this time.

Aside from the birds photographed here, you can add Crane Hawk, Great Black Hawk, and Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture to the list, plus a few others that I’ve probably forgotten. Not a bad selection, I reckon…

Raptors of the Pantanal, part I

Time for another belated photo instalment from our August trip to Brazil (facilitated by a quietish day today in the south-east, getting home at a reasonable hour!)

The Transpantaneira road is a raptor enthusiast’s dream, with a fair range of species, birds in decent numbers, and above all, close views. (Best to look away now, Dave…)

One of the most abundant is the aptly named Roadside Hawk, readily identified by the unusual demarcation between vertical barring on the upper breast and horizontal on the lower. The individual below was actually a riverside hawk, but still a bit of a poser.

Another regular sight on the river was Black-collared Hawk. These birds regularly catch fish from the surface, a neat adaptation. The first shot was taken as the hawk was whistled in by a boatman, before it (unsuccessfully) made a grab for the fish he threw. I was unsuccessful in getting a shot of the bird fishing, too…

One of the scarcer birds along the road was this tiny Pearl Kite, the only individual we saw during the trip…

… while by contrast, Savanna Hawks like this one were abundant, hunting over grassland.