At the end of 2025, we took advantage of some free days between December 18th and 20th to explore a new area in the upper part of the Serra da Bocaina National Park (in Paraty) and revisit the wonderful Itatiaia National Park in search of unusual or rare birds. We can say that the main objective of the trip was to record the Atlantic Royal Flycatcher, a species that is becoming increasingly rare in Rio de Janeiro, with a real risk of local extinction in the coming years. Unfortunately, we were not lucky with the species this time, but in return we saw many other interesting birds and breathtaking landscapes!
The first day (December 18th) was
dedicated to exploring the area of the Serra da Bocaina National Park known
as "Pedra da Macela". This is a sector of the park that is very
little visited by birders and perhaps for this reason most birds tolerate the
human presence well. We started very early, at 4:40 am (we slept in a local
accommodation very close to the park entrance the night before) and climbed
towards the peak, the famous Pedra da Macela. It's a 2 km hike that requires
moderate effort, but it's done on a 100% paved road from start to finish,
making the job much easier. The altitude ranges from approximately 1,450 meters
to 1,800 meters. At the end, there's a beautiful view of the mountains with
Angra dos Reis/Paraty Bay in the background. The weather was cloudy and a bit
rainy, with fog at various points, which slightly hampered the photos. However,
subsequent digital processing solved almost all the problems! Most of the
images presented here were taken without using playback, meaning we mainly
photographed birds that were naturally exposed. On this first day, we highlight
the abundant presence of Yellow-legged Thrushes, with several individuals
singing literally all day long. We also recorded important species such as the
Scalloped Woodcreeper (locally common, but absent from most of the state of Rio
de Janeiro), Black-and-gold Cotinga, Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle, Rufous-tailed
Attila (migratory in Rio), Giant Antshrike, Brown-breasted Pygmy Tyrant, among
others. At the end of the day we went out at night in search of the rare
Buff-fronted Owl, but we did not find it. Total species recorded that day: 99 (https://ebird.org/checklist/S289248091).
On the 19th, we woke up early to hike the trail known as "Sete Degraus," which leads through a semi-open area (a field surrounded by forest in some sections) until entering an area of lush Atlantic rainforest in the park, possibly one of the most untouched forests in the state of Rio de Janeiro! Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, and we encountered some rain. Furthermore, in a certain section of the forest, the trail had many fallen trees, so we decided to turn back after approximately 4 km of walking, especially since we wouldn't have much time to go further. Even so, we managed to hear and see interesting species such as Ruddy Quail-Dove, Short-tailed Antthrush, Golden-rumped Euphonia, Speckle-breasted Antpitta, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Spot-winged Woodquail, Brazilian Ruby, and Planalto Woodcreeper. We finished around midday and returned to our accommodation for lunch. Total number of species recorded that morning: 106 (https://ebird.org/checklist/S289248094).
After lunch and check-out, we headed towards the Itatiaia National Park region (Resende) to spend the night. We had approximately 2 hours for a super productive birding session in the afternoon, starting in the city of Resende and continuing to a surrounding rural area. There we noted the following species: Green Ibis (several very active individuals, vocalizing a lot), White-throated Kingbird (migratory in Rio), Chestnut-bellied Seed-finch, Gilt-edged Tanager, Blue-winged Macaw, Sooty Swift, and Cinnamon Tanager. We finished the afternoon with an incredible 101 species heard/seen (https://ebird.org/checklist/S289248094).
On the last day of our mini-expedition (Dec 20th), we left our hotel in the city of Resende at 5:00 AM heading towards the upper part of Itatiaia National Park. In the park, we quickly passed through the cloud forests at the beginning of the road (which were marvelous, by the way!) to concentrate our explorations on the incredible High-altitude Grasslands, as we would have a much better chance of spotting species there that we hadn't encountered on previous days. And that was a very wise decision! Despite the considerably smaller number of species recorded, we had excellent sightings, including dozens – perhaps hundreds – of Hooded Siskins, many individuals of Itatiaia Spinetail, an endemic species restricted to a few mountains in southeastern Brazil; Diademed Tanagers, White-tailed Violetears (a beautiful hummingbird that is very abundant in the area), Hellmayr's Pipits (a rarity in the region!), and a pair of Long-tailed Reed Finches, an uncommon species in Rio de Janeiro. We finished birding a little before noon and went down for lunch, quite happy after a pleasant morning in one of the most stunning landscapes in our state! Total species recorded: 43 (https://ebird.org/checklist/S289499205).
With this birding trip, we incredibly finished the year 2025 with 553 (Daniel) and 545 (Gabriel) species recorded in the Rio de Janeiro state alone! Furthermore, it was also a very productive year in terms of work, as it was the year in which we guided the most people and groups in our entire history. So we can only thank everyone who trusts and recommends our work! 😊🙏 If you've read this far, thank you very much and see you in the next post!
