Do you think parrots are magical? If so, then nothing compares to witnessing a flighted parrot in the wild. This is where they best express a bird’s true magnificent nature and beauty. It will forever change the way you view parrots, and the lives they so deserve.
If you would like to experience the elegance of wild parrots, you can join us for another Phoenix Landing ecotour to the Brazilian Pantanal this upcoming September. The Pantanal is a unique place, completely flooded in the spring and summer, very dry in the fall and winter. Since September is the end of the dry season, it’s possible to move around the area and enjoy a wide diversity of wildlife, including parrots from small conures to the once endangered hyacinth macaws.
This tour starts with a visit to meet acclaimed scientist Neiva Guedes. She almost single-handedly brought the hyacinth macaw back from the brink of extinction. Thanks to Neiva, this majestic macaw is now flourishing in several parts of Brazil. Neiva also believes that parrots and humans must learn to live side-by-side in order for parrots to survive. She and her volunteers monitor macaw nests in the heart of a major city, Campo Grande. We enjoy visiting those nests and watching her scientific team at work.
Neiva Guedes and Luiz Paiva Filho
Next, the trip includes a stay at two fazendas (or ranches) where wild parrots often abound. In past trips we watched nanday conures gulping down dung from farm animals, a pionus eating cashew flowers, macaws and Amazons flying overhead looking for mates or nesting sites, and quakers fiercely protecting their extraordinary nests.
Nanday conures eating dung
Blue front Amazon foraging and having fun
The trip ends with a visit to the indescribable Buraco das Araras, known as the hole of the macaws, where greenwings and other parrots fly below into a deep sinkhole. Here is a brief movie to give you a flavor for this enchanted home to greenwings, peach front conures, very rare yellow-faced Amazons, and much other wildlife.
While visiting in 2014, we actually witnessed a pair of greenwings take on a pair of unfledged vultures. As you can see in this photo, they had a brief encounter and the vulture was thrown into the 300’ deep sinkhole by the macaw. It was shocking! The macaws clearly wanted the vulture’s nest hole for their own, and they were willing to fight to the death for it. What might this say for some of the macaw behavior you see in your own home?
Greenwing macaw takes on a young vulture
Lastly, we have an amazing guide, Luiz Paiva Filho. He has a gifted knowledge of Brazilian wildlife, is fluid in English, and most of all has a herculean heart when it comes to the lives of parrots. We cannot imagine a trip there without him by our side. Luiz will often say “life is beautiful!” and you just know he means it. Life is indeed beautiful in the rugged floodplains of the Pantanal.
You can also read about our 2014 trip in two exceptional blog posts by Susan Orosz, PhD,DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian), Dipl ECZM (Avian). It was extra special to have her and Dr. Rhoda Stevenson, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian) with us on the last trip!
If you’d like to join us for the next tour in September 2015, you can find more information about it at phoenixlanding.org. All our trips include a tax-deductible donation for conservation projects in Brazil. Helping wild parrots is very important too!
Phoenix Landing Blog 
WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for nose and lip wrinkles acid
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This is amazing, thank you very much! Could you tell me how to contact Neiva Guedes and Luiz Paiva Filho? I could only find telephone numbers. Many thanks!
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The best way to reach Neiva is through Parrots International, a conservation organization in the U.S. Luis is a guide with a company in Brazil called Impacto Viagens e Turismo Ltda.
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