Birding in Brazil with Grandma

The Rufous-bellied Thrush (Turdus rufiventris) is a songbird of the thrush family (Turdidae). It occurs in most of east and southeast Brazil from Maranhão south to Rio Grande do Sul states, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern regions of Argentina.

It is one of the most common birds across much of southeastern Brazil, and is well-known there under its local name sabiá-laranjeira. The Rufous-bellied Thrush has been the state bird of São Paulo since 1966. It was proposed as the national bird of BrazilSick et al. (1997): p.702, and was officially chosen in 2002.

This species is named after its distinctive reddish-orange underparts. Rufous-bellied Thrushes can reach a length of 25 cm and weigh up to 68 g (male) or 78 g (female)Sick et al. (1997): p.705, though weights of about 59 g for males and 64 g for females are more usual. Contrary to what one might expect from the rather marked weight difference, the females are not larger, only plumper; their tarsus is actually a bit shorter than that of males on average.

Found in forests and urban wooded areas, it is an omnivorous bird. Its food consists mainly of fruits and arthropodsSick et al. (1997): p.701, and it can sometimes be seen attending mixed-species feeding flocks and moving through the bushes with many other birdsMachado (1999), Olson & Alvarenga (2006). It has been observed to squabble with a Common Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) in the undergrowth over food flushed by an army ant column, but this was during the dry season when fruits are scarcede Lyra-Neves et al. (2007).

It builds an open-cup nest, sometimes right on the forest floor, sometimes more than 20 meters high in a tree, but usually 4-5 meters above ground. In the yungas of NW Argentina, nesting occurred in the wet season from October to March, with most birds breeding in November-December. The three, sometimes two eggs measure about 27-28 by 20 mm, and weigh c.5.7-5.9 grams each. They are incubated for about 12?13 days, and young take about that long again untlil they fledge. Incubation is solely by the female, which spends considerable time on the nest. The nestlings are attended by both parents however; as the young near fledging, they are fed every 5?7 minutes or so on average. Predation may be a major cause of brood failure; in the Southern Andean yungas it was noted to be especially high during the nestling time and far less significant during incubation.Auer et al. (2007)

This common and wide-ranging species is not considered threatened by the IUCN.BLI (2008)

The Paradise Tanager, Tangara chilensis, is a brilliantly multicolored, medium-sized songbird whose length varies between 13.5 and 15 cm. It has a light green head, sky blue underparts and black upper body plumage. Depending on subspecies, the rump is yellow and red or all red. The beak is black and the legs are grey.

Found in humid tropical and subtropical forests in the western and northern Amazon Basin in South America, it occurring in Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and the Guianas. Despite its scientific name, it is not found in Chile.

The Paradise Tanager is common throughout its range. It is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The Golden Parakeet or Golden Conure Zipcode Zoo URL accessed January 24, 2007. Guaruba guarouba, formerly classified as Aratinga guarouba,Aratinga guarouba URL accessed January 26, 2007. is a species of also known as the Neotropical parrots. Sometimes known as the Queen of Bavaria Conure, it is the only species (monotypic) in the genus Guaruba.

Its plumage is mostly bright yellow, hence its common name, but it also possesses green remiges.Golden Palms - Golden Conure URL accessed January 26, 2007. It lives in the drier, upland rainforests in Amazonian Brazil, and is threatened by deforestation and flooding, and also by the now-illegal trapping of wild individuals for the pet trade.Honolulu Zoo URL accessed January 24, 2007. It is a protected species listed on CITES appendix I.

Toucans are a family, Ramphastidae, of near-passerine birds from the neotropics (i.e. Southern Mexico, Central, South American, and Caribbean region). The family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species. The name of this bird group is derived from Tupi tucana, via French.

The Swallow-tailed Hummingbird (Eupetomena macroura) is a species in the hummingbird family (Trochilidae), found mainly in east-central South America. Most authorities place it in the monotypic genus Eupetomena, although some place it in Campylopterus based on song and the thick shafts of the males' first primaries. Its common name and specific name (which means "large-tailed") refer to the long, deeply forked, somewhat swallow-like tail.