Bird watching and digital photography in Brazil

I like nature a lot but and I love to know what species I see. However, I did not get much pleasure from bird watching until recently. I mainly knew two kinds of birds: birds that went away before I discovered which species it is and birds that were to far away to see what species it is. In addition, Brazil counts about 1800 species of birds and I thought that it was simply impossible to find a complete guide to Brazilian birds.

But during my last holiday in Brazil, watching birds was great fun! This was because of two new developments. First of all, a nearly complete guide to Brazilian birds was published. And second, the technological developments in digital photography made it possible to create clear, easily enlargeable pictures of birds that can be viewed the same day.

Aves Brasileiras e as Plantas que as Atraem (“Brazilian Birds and the Plants that attract these”) is a nearly complete and illustrated guide to the birds of Brazil. The book was written in Portuguese but the English and scientific names of the birds are presented too, as well as the names of the family Each species is accompanied by a full-colour illustration and a map showing its distribution in South America. Although the book is complete, it is not too heavy and it can be used as a field guide. For people who are able to read Portuguese, the book contains an interesting section on plants that attract birds.

The existence of this book is a little miracle. Three generations of ornithologists from the family Frisch have worked on it. The illustrations are mainly made by the Danish-Brazilian Svend Frisch. The book was edited by his son Johan Dalgas Frisch and his grandson Christian Dalgas Frisch. Two earlier editions of this book appeared but the third edition is the first that is nearly complete covering nearly all discovered species of bird in Brazil.

High zoom digital cameras with many megapixels make it possible to make bird pictures quickly. Personally, I use a Kodak EasyShare Z612 with 12 times optical zoom and 6,1 megapixels (click here for more info ). Although this camera has a high zoom and as 6 megapixels, its weight is much lower than that of a ‘professional’ digital single-lens reflex camera. And as most cameras from Kodak EasyShare, the Z612 as a normal compact camera. Usually I take a quick picture when I see a birds. If the birds does not go away to quickly, I zoom to make a high quality picture. Earlier, comparable types of Kodak did not have a stabiliser while this is really necessary for taking sharp shots with a high zoom camera. I am glad that the zoom on my digital camera has replaced the binoculars: as I use glasses, binoculars where never comfortable for me.

Because of the large number of megapixels, I can enlarge the pictures a lot. In general, this makes the image of the bird clear enough to recognise the species with the help of the bird guide. Searching the names of the birds you saw during the day is a great thing to do at home or in the hotel during the evening. After a few days, I started recognising Brazil’s most common bird species like the Great Kiskadee (Bem-ti-vi, Pitangus Sulphuratus ) and the Bananaquit (‘Sebinho’ of ‘Cambacica’, Coereba flaveola ). The sound of the Great Kiskadee ("Kiskadee, Kiskadee") can be heard all over Brazil. The Bananaquit is a small bird that eats nectar by making a small whole in the back of flowers like hibiscus.

Most birds I saw in and around the city. A pair of Rufous Hornero or Ovenbird (‘João de Barro’, Furnarius Rufus ) built its nest in an electricity pylon. The picture of the Black Vulture (‘Urubu-Preto-Comum’, Coragyps atratus ) was made on the Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, with the beach of Copacabana in the background. My encounter with a woodpecker only lasted shortly but as I managed to take a picture I found out that I had seen a Green Barred Woodpecker (‘Pica-Pau-Carijó’, Colaptes melanochloros ).

The picture of the humming bird was taking during a rain shower. It was hard to recognise the species in the birds guide, until I thought that the animal must have raised its feathers due to the rain. That makes it look thicker than normal. It is a Swallow-tailed Hummingbird (Beija-flor Tesoura’, Eupetomena macroura ).