Of course as soon as we arrived, I was checking eBird reports for potential lifers, and saw quite a few had been seen in one location. It turned out to be someone's house! I sent a message and later that day Marcelo, the owner invited us over. We joined him in his backyard bird oasis which he has cultivated over the years with native plants and a number of hummingbird feeders. He considers himself a waiter in the hummingbird bar he calls Jardim Dos Beija Flores. We spent an hour here enjoying the many birds and delightful conversation. Marcelo is extremely knowledgeable and guides tours in the area. He was already booked, but took the time to give us great tips for visiting Iguazu Falls and Paraguay.
Black-throated Mango.
This is the male, the female is white underneath with a black stripe, seen below.
Black-throated Mango, female
The Swallow-tailed Hummingbird is one that I really wanted to see! The light was fading at this point, but isn't that a fantastic silhouette?!
On our walk home, we came across some fantastic wall murals featuring birds.
Black Bill's Smokehouse was a favorite restaurant of ours that we could walk to from our room at the Mona Lisa Hotel. They have outdoor seating and a bird feeder! The best part was when some Chestnut-eared Aracaris came thru! Even the waiters were excited and asked to look at my photos.
Great Kiskadee
I found this Plumbeous Kite nesting at our hotel.
Parque das Aves
The Bird Park is just down the road from Iguaçu National Park on the Brazil side. The park features endemic birds of the Atlantic Forest, of which only a small bit of the original forest remains. As a result a large percentage of the birds and wildlife are endangered. Most of these birds are being cared for here due to injuries or being raised in captivity.
The Scarlet Ibis is a bird I've wanted to see for years. The color is so intense, a photo doesn't do it justice. I'm looking forward to finding these in the wild someday!
One fun thing about animal enclosures is that wild birds sometimes visit captive birds. This was the case with some toucans and an Andean Ibis. This is a photo of the captive one, but the wild one was in a tree above the enclosure.
Here both kinds of Ibises can be seen in the background with a Southern Screamer, a very large, unusually-shaped bird with a call that can be heard several miles away. I would later find these in a reserve in Buenos Aires!
I like how they group different birds together. There was a section with lots of different types of parrots, parakeets, etc. And many times, you are inside the enclosure with the birds!
Toco Toucan
This Common Potoo does not look thrilled with being drenched with rain.
They have super large mouths but you hardly ever get to see it. Pretty cool!
Now here's another odd bird, the Seriema, a VERY large bird, similar to the Secretary bird.
Merely fluffing its feathers can totally change its appearance.
When I saw all these very large birds, I thought it would be really cool to some across them in the wild. I ended up seeing this one TWICE at Iguazu Falls in Argentina just a couple days later.
Black-fronted Piping-Guan
Bare-faced Curassow (top right) Razor-billed Curassow (below)
At one point the skies opened up and poured rain, so we took that opportunity to enjoy some snacks at the little shop inside the park. About a half hour later we were able to resume our walk. Red-breasted Toucan (below)
These were really cool interactive digital boards with info set along a trail.
The flamingos cracked me up. The back side of their enclosure was a mirror, and they seemed to interact with their reflection.
The mariposario
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