GARUVA 
BRAZIL

SANTA CATARINA (near), (Compass)

 Lat:00o00´S/00o00´W ha topography msl 
Protected/registered status 
Best Time for visit (19th December, 2006)

 

Birding Site Guide

The small town of Garuva is on the main highway between Curitiba and Joinville. There are regular buses from Joinville and it only takes half an hour and costs about 7R so there is no real reason to stay in Garuva although there may be a hotel. The first bus leaves Joinville at 5:30am. From Garuva I tried to follow the instructions on the www.arthurgrosset.com homepage.

Click on Site Notes, then Santa Catarina. Near town there are some small marshes where Marsh Antbird has been found. Unfortunately the instructions are for drivers in kms from Garuva and it is not so obvious if you are walking or hitching. As in the instruction on the page, from the Rodoviaria in Garuva, head towards Guaratuba and after about 100m turn left at the main junction and follow the road straight out of town, going straight as a die and not left further on. From the Rodoviaria the patches are at 15.5 and 17km.

I started walking at 6am and managed to get on a bus which took me for about the first 5km. When the bus turned round, I got off and continued walking. After several kms there was an area of reeds where I heard Yellow-chinned Spinetail and Rufous-sided Crake and saw Blackish Rail in the nearby rice fields. I don’t think this first patch is the one referred to. After here, the road goes up a hill at a banana plantation. Further, on the left hand side are the 2 patches of reeds with forest in the background. I walked past these and tried some playback with no success. It was getting a bit late though so try and get there earlier and spend more time. I didn`t know these were the patches until it became much more obvious later on when I found no others. The land in this area is a mixture of banana, palmito plantations and rice fields. Further on, the road is flanked by forest patches. The rice fields were quite dry and had only a few waterbirds. Other seasons maybe much more productive. It got very hot by late morning and activity died down quickly and birding was not so good. A car is strongly recommended although hitching is possible along the road. I went as far as the small town of Cubatao. In the notes, it refers to a turning here that leads to good forest. 


I saw 84 species including 1 lifer 


Species seen

  • Yellow-legged Tinamou Crypturellus noctivagus Endemic NT Heard Recorded
  • Whistling Heron Syrigma sibilatrix
  • Great Egret Ardea alba
  • Snowy Egret Egretta thula
  • Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
  • Rufescent Tiger-Heron Tigrisoma lineatum
  • Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
  • Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris
  • Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
  • Blackish Rail Pardirallus nigricans Possibly seen
  • Wattled Jacana Jacana jacana
  • Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
  • South American Snipe Gallinago paraguaiae
  • Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria
  • Pale-vented Pigeon Patagioenas cayennensis
  • Ruddy Ground-Dove Columbina talpacoti
  • White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi Heard only
  • Plain Parakeet Brotogeris tirica Endemic
  • Scaly-headed Parrot Pionus maximiliani
  • Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana
  • Smooth-billed Ani Crotophaga ani
  • Guira Cuckoo Guira guira
  • Striped Cuckoo Tapera naevia Heard only
  • Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia
  • Ashy-tailed Swift Chaetura andrei
  • Black Jacobin Florisuga fuscus
  • Black-throated Mango Anthracothorax nigricollis Possibly seen
  • Violet-capped Woodnymph Thalurania glaucopis Possibly seen
  • Sapphire-spangled Emerald Polyerata lactea
  • Surucua Trogon Trogon surrucura Heard only
  • Ringed Kingfisher Ceryle torquatus
  • Campo Flicker Colaptes campestris Recorded
  • Rufous Hornero Furnarius rufus
  • Chicli Spinetail Synallaxis spixi Heard only
  • Yellow-chinned Spinetail Certhiaxis cinnamomea Recorded
  • Variable Antshrike Thamnophilus caerulescens Heard only
  • White-shouldered Fire-eye Pyriglena leucoptera Heard only
  • White-breasted Tapaculo Scytalopus indigoticus Endemic NT Heard
  • White-bearded Manakin Manacus manacus Heard only
  • Blue Manakin Chiroxiphia caudata Heard only
  • Olivaceous Elaenia Elaenia mesoleuca Possibly seen
  • Yellow-lored Tody-Flycatcher Todirostrum poliocephalum Endemic Photo'd
  • Yellow-browed Tyrant Satrapa icterophrys
  • Long-tailed Tyrant Colonia colonus
  • Gray-hooded Attila Attila rufus Endemic Heard only
  • Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
  • Social Flycatcher Myiozetetes similis
  • Streaked Flycatcher Myiodynastes maculatus
  • Piratic Flycatcher Legatus leucophaius
  • Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
  • Fork-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus savana
  • Black-tailed Tityra Tityra cayana
  • Brown-chested Martin Progne tapera
  • Gray-breasted Martin Progne chalybea
  • Blue-and-white Swallow Notiochelidon cyanoleuca
  • Southern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx ruficollis
  • Yellowish Pipit Anthus lutescens Heard only
  • House Wren Troglodytes aedon
  • Rufous-bellied Thrush Turdus rufiventris
  • Creamy-bellied Thrush Turdus amaurochalinus
  • Azure Jay Cyanocorax caeruleus Near-threatened
  • Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus Recorded
  • Tropical Parula Parula pitiayumi
  • Masked Yellowthroat Geothlypis aequinoctialis
  • Bananaquit Coereba flaveola
  • Ruby-crowned Tanager Tachyphonus coronatus Recorded
  • Brazilian Tanager Ramphocelus bresilius Endemic
  • Sayaca Tanager Thraupis sayaca
  • Palm Tanager Thraupis palmarum
  • Violaceous Euphonia Euphonia violacea Possibly seen
  • Red-necked Tanager Tangara cyanocephala
  • Blue Dacnis Dacnis cayana
  • Swallow-Tanager Tersina viridis
  • Red-crested Finch Coryphospingus cucullatus
  • Blue-black Grassquit Volatinia jacarina
  • Lined Seedeater Sporophila lineola
  • Double-collared Seedeater Sporophila caerulescens
  • Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola
  • Grassland Sparrow Ammodramus humeralis
  • Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis
  • White-browed Blackbird Sturnella superciliaris
  • Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis
  • Red-rumped Cacique Cacicus haemorrhous Possibly seen
  • House Sparrow Passer domesticus Introduced species


Other Fauna 
A total of -- species of mammals. 

There are -- recorded species of amphibians and reptiles. 

Flora 

Author: Charles Hesse 

 

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