Rick Simpson Birding Services

Casca D'Anta waterfall. Photo ₢ Rick and Elis Simpson.

This is of course the best site to see the ultra rare Brazilian Merganser; however, the site has so much more to offer a visiting birder.

The lower park holds the Casca D’Anta, the waterfall along the Rio São Francisco where the river falls dramatically from the upper park to the lower at the foot of the serra. The Rio São Francisco has its source in the upper park and is the longest river entirely within Brazil, finally reaching the sea on the border between Sergipe and Alagoas in the northeast. Along this river the mergansers can be found with a little luck and usually a great deal of perseverance. Whilst looking for these elusive ducks the birding is always good, the only drawback being that in the lower park the guards insist that no playback be used. You will be inspected both in and out of the park. It’s not clear why this is the case.

The upper park also holds the mergansers, but is a grassland plateau that has many special birds, key species being Greater Rhea, Brasilia Tapaculo, Cock-tailed Tyrant, Sharp-tailed Tyrant, Tawny-headed Swallow and Stripe-tailed Yellow-Finch.

Brazilian Mergansers. Photo ₢ Martin Hunnybun.

Birds to look out for include: Greater Rhea, Red-winged Tinamou, Spotted Nothura, Buff-necked Ibis, Muscovy Duck, Brazilian Merganser, King Vulture, Plumbeous Kite, Great Black, Harris’, White-rumped and Savanna Hawks, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Laughing Falcon, American and Aplomado Falcons, Red-legged Seriema, Scaled Dove, White-eyed, Golden-capped and Peach-fronted Parakeets, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Short-tailed Nighthawk, Band-winged Nightjar, Great Dusky Swift, Planalto Hermit, White-vented Violetear, Amethyst Woodstar, White-eared Puffbird, Red-breasted and Toco Toucans, White and Little Woodpeckers, Rufous-fronted Thornbird, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, Rufous-winged and Variable Antshrikes, Brasilia Tapaculo, Red-ruffed fruitcrow, Helmeted Manakin, Sooty and White-crested Tyrannulet, Sharp-tailed, Cock-tailed and Streamer-tailed Tyrant, Sirystes, White-rumped and Tawny-headed Swallows, Yellowish, Ochre-breasted and Hellmayr’s Pipit, Grey-eyed Greenlet, White-rimmed and White-striped Warblers, Cinnamon, Guira, Gilt-edged and Burnished-buff Tanagers, Pileated finch, Cinereous Warbling-Finch, Yellow-bellied and Capped Seedeater, Stripe-tailed Yellow-Finch, Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch, Great Pampa-Finch, Grassland Sparrow, Black-throated Saltator, Epaulet Oriole, Chopi Blackbird and Yellow-rumped Marshbird.

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