Southeast Tocantins

Tocantins Birding - in the heart of Brazil

Tocantins: a mix of the Amazon and Cerrado birding.

State of Tocantins is located in the center of Brazil, but politically belongs to the north Brazil herewith Pará, Amazonas, among others. The biome prevailing is Cerrado, but part of its territory is formed by Amazon Rainforest patches, mainly at northwest. Tocantins has only thirty years of creation and its capital is Palmas (PMW), located in the central region. The weather is relatively warm all year and the higher temperatures (30-42°C), lower humid air (18-50%) and the fires in the cerrados are recorded in August and September. During June and July the temperature drops and is cooler at night, according to region. It has two well-defined seasons, a rainy (November to April), and a dry (May to October).

In Tocantins have been recorded about 633 birds species, and this is mainly due to located in ecotone zone, thereby promoting a high species richness. Herein, I describe three of the main birding sites in Tocantins and I do mentions at some small key sites.

There is an airport well structured, where flights of mains airlines arrived from São Paulo (GRU) and Brasilia (BSB) international airports. Flights arrives at Palmas basically in the morning (about 11:00 a.m.), at afternoon (16:00 p.m.) and in the evening (23:30 p.m.).

Southeast Tocantins (12°24’S/46°25’W) - Following a six-hour drive from Palmas, for south by BR-010/TO-280 roads until Taguatinga and by TO-110 until Aurora do Tocantins municipalities (about 500 km) there are some dry forest patches growing on limestone outcrops which is disappearing due to the deforestation for agriculture. In this last, you can visit the fewer river of the America known as Rio Azuis. This vast region is known as Serra Geral do Tocantins highlands and is located on the border with Bahia (northeastern Brazil) and has astonishing landscapes. The roads are not busy, but may have holes and the trip can be tiring. About four days will be necessary travel key sites, including back to Palmas. In Taguatinga (Victor’s Hotel) and Aurora do Tocantins the accommodations are simple however cosy. In the forest patches there is excellent chance to see the rare and threatened Caatinga Black-Tyrant Knipolegus franciscanus, Pfrimer’s Parakeet Pyrrhura pfrimeri both associated to dry forests, the rare Reiser’s Tyrannulet Phylomyias reiseri and Caatinga birds such as Campo Troupial Icterus jamacaii, Black-bellied Antwren Formicivora melanogaster, Scarlet-throated Tanager Compsothraupis loricata and others.

Caves, Azuis River - one of the smallest rivers of the Americas.

The weather is relatively warm all year and the higher temperatures (30-42°C), lower humid air (18-50%) and the fires in the cerrados are recorded in August and September. During June and July the temperature drops and is cooler at night, according to region. It has two well-defined seasons, a rainy (November to April), and a dry (May to October).