The threatened Antwren

Few months ago I went to Paraty — Rio de Janeiro to observe the famous Black-hooded antwren.

I’m not sure when I forst heard about this uncommon antwren, but I remember being told how rare it is. It was given as extinct for over 180 years and suddenly in 80’s it reappeared.

There's a thing about rare animals. Whenever a species becomes scarce, instantaneously that thing becomes special for us. A bunch of studies come out, we try to create an evironmental protection area surrouding the species site, tours are made for people get to know it and sometimes even captivity breeding programs are created. I think it could be different, we can try to avoid to thread an species before, but as a human being this rare thing rolled me up, I fell that I should observe every rare animal in the world. Partly because I read "The last chance to see" — Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine, that’s about two guys going all over the world visiting some rare animals.

The antwren's day started early at 4am. We drove from Paraty to Angra dos Reis, which took almost 2 hours, in a dark road. We tried to beat the rain clouds there.

Arriving at Angra dos Reis we parked the car in a small neighborhood and started to walk along the Mambucaba river. The first bird we saw was a group of Channel-billed toucans. They were searching for small fruits on tree canopy. What an amazing bird, with its long black beak and gracious way to eat fruits. I could've taken great pictures of it, but I didn't. They didn't come closer.

Channel-billed toucano flying away from me — Angra dos Reis — Rio de Janeiro — Brazil

Two hours after observing other birds, we reached the small site that Black-hooded antwren lives. Upon arrival, a female approached us and I didn't find her, just listened, it was frustrating.

We started to playback male calls, took us over 1 hour to get the first response, his call is something like "chip-chip-chip-chip-chip…" and goes forever (You can listen here). He was far from where we were. Following the call, we entered in a narrow trail, full of mosquitoes, tall bushes and some arms of Mambucaba river. We were listening him answering our playback and finally we found the male:

Black-hooded antwren higher than I was expecting — Angra dos Reis — Rio de Janeiro — Brazil

I wasn't happy with his perch, it was too high, a horrible angle for pictures. But he was there, trying to find his opponent, our playback. We turned it off, observed it little more and head back to Paraty.

This small passerine is threatened, it's loosing its place for farmers. Loosing its place for meat. Living there for more than we could imagine, now it has just a more restrict area. Very sad. This can be different, we must share more resources with those unarmed animals. I'm changing my tone a little due to absurd amount of trashes I've found in the place this bird lives. Tons of plastic.

I didn’t find any direct project related to the conservation of Black-hooded antwren's place. If you know something, please, let me know!

Despite some facts, Paraty and Angra dos Reis are nice places to visit, here are some pictures of the trip:

The curious Chestnut-backed antshrike — Angra dos Reis — Rio de Janeiro — Brazil

Savanna hawk flying to meet its partner — Paraty — Rio de Janeiro — Brazil

Semipalmated Sandpiper and some crabs looking for food — Paraty — Rio de Janeiro — Brazil

Paraty's charm — Rio de Janeiro — Brazil

I also enjoyed a day in a sailboat — Paraty — Rio de Janeiro — Brazil

Thank you for your time!

If you have any questions regarding where to find the birds or places on the pictures, software engineering or just want a friend, you can get in touch at abner.terribili@gmail.com.

Enjoy your day!