Santarém Birding: Amazon and Tapajós Avifauna
The Amazon-Tapajós confluence at Santarém is one of the world's great birding sites — the intersection of two major river drainage systems creates exceptional bird diversity with many endemics on both the north and south banks
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Tapajós River Endemics
The Tapajós River acts as a biogeographic barrier — many bird species have distinct subspecies or entire species on each bank; The Santarém area has been intensively studied by ornithologists and has documented over 600 bird species
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Scarlet Macaw Flocks
Large flocks of scarlet macaws – flying between roosting and feeding sites over the Tapajós – are one of the Santarém region's most spectacular sights; the macaws use mud licks on the Tapajós banks to detoxify the seeds they eat
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Harpy Eagle sightings
The harrier — one of the world's most powerful birds of prey — nests in the Tapajós National Forest; The Munduruku communities know the nesting sites and guides can arrange viewings of the nesting pairs and their large prey catches
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Antbird diversity
The terra firma forest of the Santarém region has an extraordinary diversity of antbirds — the antbirds that accompany the army in the Tapajós forest represent some of the most complex inter-species collaborations in the bird world
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River Island Specialties
The riverine islands of the Amazon at Santarém have distinctive bird communities — the várzea (floodplain) specialists, the shore-nesting plover and the riverside vegetation hoatzins are all accessible on short boat trips
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Dawn Chorus in the Amazon
The dawn chorus of the Amazon forest – which begins 30 minutes before sunrise – is one of the world's greatest natural sound experiences; The Santarém forest, heard from a boat on the Tapajós before sunrise, produces a wall of bird sounds of extraordinary complexity