You arrive today in São Paulo for our Atlantic Forest pre-tour extension. After gathering your bags and going through customs please take the convenient shuttle to the hotel. Rest up from the long flight and get to know the others in the group at dinner tonight.

Accommodations in at a convenient airport hotel (D)

We want an early departure after breakfast so we can arrive at Itatiaia National Park (170 miles) before noon. Along the highway we look for Southern Crested Caracara and both White-tailed and Crane Hawks. Our stop at the park’s entrance station provides us with our first opportunity to bird the Atlantic Forest.

White-eyed Parakeet put on a show as they jet overhead, while we look for Curl-crested Jay, Chalk-browed Mockingbird, Campo Flicker, Savannah Hawk, Ruby-crowned Tanager, Grey Monjita, and Crested Black-Tyrant. We have lunch, check into our rooms and then enjoy the stunning vista with an array of feeders and birds in the foreground. For birders and photographers alike, this is just such a treat to see so many of the colorful birds of this park, and so close: Red-breasted Toucan, Dusky-legged Guan, Green Honeycreeper, White-throated Hummingbird, Brazilian Ruby, Chestnut-bellied Euphonia, Green-headed and other tanagers, Crested Oropendola, and Red rumped Cacique. This is a fine introduction to some of the species of the Atlantic Forest. Accommodations at Hotel do Ype or similar (B, L, D)

These two days are dedicated to exploring the trails and roads of the central part of the park. We stop for flocks as we climb the road to the higher elevations of the park where we should find Maroon-bellied Parakeet, Planalto Hermit, Surucua Trogon, Black-throated Trogon, Rufous-capped Motmot, Tufted Antshrike, White-bearded Antshrike, Variable Antshrike, Spot-breasted Antvireo, Plain Antvireo, Star-throated Antwren, White-shouldered Fire-eye, Ferruginous Antbird, Ochre rumped Antbird, White-bibbed Antbird, Rufous Gnateater, Black-and-gold Cotinga, Blue-backed Manakin, Gray-capped Tyrannulet, Bay-chested Warbling-Finch, Buff-throated Warbling-Finch, Diademed Tanager, Olivaceous Woodcreeper, White-throated Woodcreeper, and Scaled Woodcreeper.

We drive through the area, making “specialty stops” to areas that have Violet-capped Woodnymph, Black Hawk-Eagle, and Collared Forest-Falcon. Higher elevation stops allow us to look for Araucaria Tit-Spinetail, Itatiaia Spinetail, and Rufous-capped Antshrike. A number of different species occur along the transition zones of the various elevation-dependent habitats as we climb the road to the top. These include a long list: White-barred Piculet, Yellow-eared Woodpecker, Plain-winged Woodcreeper, Black-billed Scythebill, Rufous-capped Spinetail, Pallid Spinetail, White-collared Foliage-gleaner, Ochre-breasted Foliage-gleaner, Buff-fronted Foliage gleaner, White-browed Foliage-gleaner, Yellow Tyrannulet, Gray-hooded Flycatcher, Cliff Flycatcher, Black-tailed Flycatcher, White-throated Spadebill, Velvety Black-Tyrant, Long-tailed Tyrant, White-browed Warbler, Golden-crowned Warbler, Rufous-crowned Greenlet, Golden winged Cacique, Black-goggled Tanager, Rufous-headed Tanager, Golden-chevroned Tanager, and Ruby-crowned Tanager. We should also find monkeys: Black Capuchin along with Black-striped Capuchin.

One of the fascinating aspects of climbing this road is the different plant communities and species. We bird in Araucaria Forest, a unique, high-elevation conifer of the park; the tundra-like plants found in the shrubby lands at the top of the park; and lower elevation cloud forest, complete with salvias, bromeliads, and orchids. Lower elevations have intermittent forests embedded with grasslands and streams. All of these habitats provide ample opportunity to experience this well-known and diversity-rich part of Brazil.

Accommodations at Hotel do Ype or similar (B, L, D)

This morning we enjoy an early breakfast, and then drive to the Agulhas Negras Road into the highlands on the far side of the park. This road gives us access to higher elevation habitat where some specialty birds are found. Notable among these are White-rumped Hawk, Rufous-thighed Hawk, Araucaria Tit-Spinetail, Itatiaia Thistletail, Buff-browed Foliage-gleaner, Rufous-tailed Antbird, Black-and-gold Cotinga, Black-capped Piprites, Brown-breasted Bamboo Tyrant, Shear tailed Gray Tyrant, Diademed Tanager, Gray-throated Warbling-Finch, and Bay-chested Warbling Finch. After we finish birding here, we drive back to São Paulo where we meet up with our companions, overnight before the start of our main trip (and in-country flight) to the Pantanal!

Accommodations at an airport hotel (B, L, D)