Bird-watching

Bird-watching in Rio Grande do Norte

Atlantic Forest, Caatinga dry forest and coastal wetlands meet within a few hours' drive, for a concentration of birdlife out of all proportion to the size of the state.

386species recorded in RNSource: eBird.org

Bird-watching

Where three biomes meet

Few places on Earth bring together three such different biomes within a few hours’ drive. In Rio Grande do Norte the Atlantic Forest of the southern coast, the Caatinga of the interior and the coastal wetlands — estuaries, salt pans and mangroves — create a bird diversity out of all proportion to the size of the state.

The Caatinga is the only exclusively Brazilian biome and holds endemic species found in no other country. The best window runs from the end of the rainy season onward (March to July), when the interior turns green and breeding activity peaks. The salt pans of Galinhos and Macau concentrate shorebirds and migrants; the area around Pico do Cabugi and the Apodi region hold the Caatinga endemics.

Bird-watching

Species to look for

Endemic
Red-cowled Cardinal
Paroaria dominicana
Pico do Cabugi · Chapada do Apodi
Photo: Hector Bottai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
White-naped Jay
Cyanocorax cyanopogon
Serra de Santana · Chapada do Apodi
Photo: Shanthanu Bhardwaj · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
Caatinga Parakeet
Eupsittula cactorum
Pico do Cabugi · Sertão do Seridó
Photo: Tiago Lubiana · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
Caatinga Cacholote
Pseudoseisura cristata
Pico do Cabugi · Chapada do Apodi
Photo: in Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigny · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
White-browed Guan
Penelope jacucaca
Serra de Santana · Chapada do Apodi
Photo: vinicius_s_domingues · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Weber Girão · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
Yellow-faced Siskin
Sporagra yarrellii
Serra de Santana · Sertão do Seridó
Photo: Antonio Arnaiz-Villena, Valentin Ruiz-del-Valle · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Endemic
Pygmy Nightjar
Hydropsalis hirundinacea
Pico do Cabugi · Chapada do Apodi
Photo: Johann Baptist von Spix · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Endemic
Broad-tipped Hermit
Anopetia gounellei
Pico do Cabugi · Sertão do Seridó
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jquental/ · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Ciro Albano · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
Caatinga Antwren
Herpsilochmus sellowi
Pico do Cabugi · Chapada do Apodi
Photo: Hector Bottai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Juan Mazar Barnett · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
Pectoral Antwren
Herpsilochmus pectoralis
Chapada do Apodi · Mata de Estrela (Baía Formosa)
Photo: Hector Bottai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
White-throated Seedeater
Sporophila albogularis
Sertão do Seridó · Chapada do Apodi
Photo: Hector Bottai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Ciro Albano · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
Ochraceous Piculet
Picumnus limae
Pico do Cabugi · Serra de Santana
Photo: Hector Bottai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Marcus Braun · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Scarlet Ibis
Eudocimus ruber
Galinhos · Macau
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: David Darrell-Lambert · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
Jandaya Parakeet
Aratinga jandaya
Mata Estrela (Baía Formosa) · Serra de Santana
Photo: GIANNIZZZERO at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
Campo Troupial
Icterus jamacaii
Pico do Cabugi · Chapada do Apodi
Photo: DianesGomes · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Endemic
Silvery-cheeked Antshrike
Sakesphorus cristatus
Serra de Santana · Sertão do Seridó
Photo: Rick elis.simpson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Brian Cox · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Roseate Spoonbill
Platalea ajaja
Galinhos · Macau
Photo: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Paul Marvin · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Magnificent Frigatebird
Fregata magnificens
Galinhos · Areia Branca
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Leonardo Ordóñez-Delgado · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Brown Booby
Sula leucogaster
Litoral norte · Galinhos
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Reyt Sylvain · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Calidris pusilla
Salinas de Galinhos · Macau
Photo: Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: AUDEVARD Aurélien · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
White-backed Stilt
Himantopus melanurus
Salinas de Galinhos · Lagoa do Bonfim
Photo: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Douglas Meyer · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Red-legged Seriema
Cariama cristata
Chapada do Apodi · Sertão do Seridó
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Crested Caracara
Caracara plancus
Pico do Cabugi · Litoral
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Burrowing Owl
Athene cunicularia
Dunas de Genipabu · Chapada do Apodi
Photo: Wagner Machado Carlos Lemes from Goiânia, Brazil · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Isain Contreras Rodríguez · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Laughing Falcon
Herpetotheres cachinnans
Pico do Cabugi · Mata Estrela (Baía Formosa)
Photo: iNaturalist user: carnifex · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Fernando Angulo · CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 · xeno-canto ↗
Swallow-tailed Hummingbird
Eupetomena macroura
Lagoa do Bonfim · Pipa
Photo: Dario Sanches from São Paulo, Brazil · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Galbula ruficauda
Mata Estrela (Baía Formosa) · Pipa
Photo: Jairmoreirafotografia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗
Audio: Victor Vanegas · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto ↗
Burnished-buff Tanager
Tangara cayana
Mata Estrela (Baía Formosa) · Lagoa do Bonfim
Photo: Félix Uribe from Rionegro, Antioquia, Colombia · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗