Abstract
In March, 2000, the final species list from the Field Guides, Incorporated-Northeastern Brazil's bird watching trip arrived in the mail. These lists are provided to enable participants to check and verify the personal lists they pored over every night during the tour. Species seen are listed with common and scientific names, followed by brief notes concerning numbers tallied, specific locations, or unusual circumstances. One record departed from protocol. In the Psittacidae section, the eighteen species we had observed during the three weeks were listed true to form, but one official entry had been modified. The word "FOREVER" had been added. The text that followed "FOREVER," easily the longest and most intriguing details on the nineteen-page report, continued with notes about the "lovely views of the rarest bird in the world," our incredible excitement and joy, and a summary of the memorable viewing experience. After all the obstacles, frustrations, and highs and lows of this astounding day, "FOREVER" was an apt and appropriate addition.
Northeastern Brazil
February 13-15, 2000
The far northeastern edge of the South American continent is refuge for the most poorly known avifaunas in the Neotropics. In the year 2000, few groups of modern-day bird watchers had explored this remote corner of Brazil, and relatively few scientific collectors had gone there. The states of Ceara, Piaui, western Pernambuco, and the vast interior of Bahia, is seasonally arid and covered with a low, xeromorphic, thorny woodland and scrub. It also contains abundant cacti, terrestrial bromeliads, and small tributaries of the Rio Sao Francisco. This stark, but strikingly beautiful habitat, called the caatinga, is limited to northeastern Brazil. It is one of the most highly threatened habitats in South America due to clearing and burning for agriculture, and the constant depredation of grazing goats and sheep. It is characterized by an endemic avifauna, many members of which are among the least-known and rarest birds in the New World. Foremost among these are two of the four blue macaws: Little Blue (Spix's) and Indigo, (Lear's). The main draw of this tour was to see the Lear's, who were down to about 150 individuals in remote, unprotected areas, and to possibly visit the habitat of the last remaining Spix's macaw.
The severe dry season usually begins in July and lasts until January. Yesterday, the temperature reached 103 degrees. Today, the landscape is dotted with red mud and small pools. Thunder and lightning disturbed our sleep last night; and it rained heavily until 6:10 A.M. Now lush and verdant, the caatinga looks like a professionally landscaped desert garden, with brilliant yellow flowering plants among giant cacti and the few remaining Caraibeira trees (Tabebuia caraiba). Goat herd boys, with their annoying bells (and smells) roam the roads with the lizards and millipedes. Strange-looking frogs called furiously all morning as they fertilized the millions of eggs the females were laying. When we drove out at the end of the day, there were mounds of white foaming egg masses in almost every pool.
In a diversion from the printed itinerary, the following morning we rode our bus to a meeting place at 6:00. No one was there to meet us. At 6:45, one of our guides, Bret Whitney, found a neighbor who knew the missing driver, and went to his house to find him. The driver was asleep and complained that we were an hour early, but he finally brought some release forms for us to sign and explained that we would still have to wait because his truck was broken. He finally secured another vehicle, and we began a drive on muddy roads. By this time, we knew that our destination was the Spix's Macaw research site and everyone was shocked, but ecstatic at the prospect. We learned that Bret had begun making phone calls two days earlier, frantically trying to maneuver the chain of command in an effort to get permission for our visit. After hours of frustrating failure, he finally succeeded; and achieving this feat will always be remembered as a miracle.
The Spix's macaw, discovered and collected in 1819 by Johannes von Spix, a German naturalist, had never been seen in large numbers. The extermination of the bird was due to illegal trade; and by the 1980's they were critically endangered in the wild. After conflicting stories of sightings over the years, a Brazilian farmer finally produced a reliable photograph of the bird in 1990, and a research base camp was set up immediately. In addition, The Spix's Macaw Project enlisted the villagers of Curaca to aid in the bird's survival.