Pantanal – Part 2
Brazil – Pantanal | Anno 2018
Small but cunning, that's the striated heron. It sometimes drops bait in the form of a leaf or feather on the water's surface. Curious fish that are attracted to it pay with their lives
The agami heron is endangered. This is a shame, because its beautiful colours sometimes resemble those of a hummingbird. Its long beak and short legs are striking
Waiting motionlessly for prey, stalking it silently, chasing it wildly, plucking flying insects from the air, brazenly stealing another's food –the whistling heron masters it all
The beautiful neck plumes of the whistling heron were once a prized object among indigenous peoples
Will this young whistling heron's plumage ever recover?
Also a beautiful sight is the capped heron with its blue beak and black crown
The three to four long feathers that radiate from its black crown are striking
A great egret flies slowly but stately above the river with its neck tucked in. It will often lie motionless in shallow water, awaiting its prey. As soon as it sees the opportunity, it impales its victim with its dagger-shaped beak
Of all the iguanas, the green iguana is perhaps the most impressive. Its long tail makes up two-thirds of its body length. It can swing powerfully with it –preferably at the head of its attacker
The green iguana prefers to sunbathe at the water's edge among the branches of the bushes
The large round scale on the back of its head makes it easy to recognise. The spiny crest on its back is also characteristic
In terms of wingspan, the jabiru is second only to the Andean condor
It is an impressive bird, but not really attractive, with that bare, black neck and that long, black beak that seems to point upwards
This 1.5-meter-long bird has no natural enemies. It lives an average of 36 years
It detects its prey not by sight, but by touch. The jabiru holds its open beak at a 45° angle to the water's surface and snaps it shut as soon as prey makes contact
Jabirus build their nests with branches in a tall tree. This nest is used year after year and gradually expanded each time. Successful nests can be up to three meters in diameter
After 30 days, the chicks hatch, and after another 110 days, they can fly. However, they remain in their mother's hotel for another three months. Most parent pairs therefore fail to raise a brood every year
The ringed kingfisher often sits quietly on a branch for hours, looking out over the water, searching for prey –mainly fish, but also invertebrates, crabs and crustaceans
In the female the breast is partly rust-brown, partly blue-grey with a white band in between, ...
...in the male, however, the breast is completely rust-brown
Even though a young ringed kingfisher does not yet have the beautiful colours of the adult, you can still recognise the sex
Males and females incubate the eggs together in their burrows. To obtain food, they lure insects into their burrows by regurgitating digested food
Amazon kingfishers seem to want to be seen, as they always take up position on a conspicuous branch low above the water. There they spy on fish and crustaceans
The American pygmy kingfisher is the smallest of the five kingfishers that inhabit the Pantanal. It weighs only 15 grams at most. It therefore has many predators
The Saruman connects the Cuiabá River with the Mutum River. It is a temporary river without its own bed, flowing only during the rainy season
Despite their reputation as aggressive carnivores, red-bellied piranhas are primarily scavengers –somewhat like vultures on land. Living in schools of several hundred individuals is their way of protecting themselves from caimans and herons
It's a bit of a shock when you see the teeth that are planted in the jaws like razor blades
Piranha is rarely eaten as a prepared fish. However, piranha soup is quite popular in the Pantanal
Given the annual flooding, it is a good idea to build your house on stilts on the banks of the Río Mutum, with a boat mooring right outside
Once the water has receded, the land dries very quickly. Agriculture is not possible here, but livestock farming is. The floods provide fresh grass every year
Nearly all cattle in Brazil belong to the zebu breed, specifically American brahmans, nelores, or a crossbreed. This is evident by the hump on their shoulders. Brahmins are highly resistant to heat, sunlight, and humidity
Gauchos on horseback herd the cattle together at the end of the dry season
A black collared hawk looks out over the surroundings
The vegetation reveals how high the water level is during the rainy season
Water hyacinths can also survive in isolated ponds
Some farms have to protect themselves against high water with a dike
Brazil has five varieties of mango
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The yellow-billed cardinal is the smallest, but also the most colourful of the six species of cardinals |
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Yellow-billed cardinals feed primarily on seed grains, but during the breeding season they supplement that limited diet with insects
They are solitary birds. You usually see yellow-billed cardinals alone or in pairs, except when they are building nests. Then they form colonies of about half a dozen individuals
Where cows graze, insects are disturbed. The screaming cowbird benefits from this. As soon as insects are exposed, it plucks them from the grass. The ever-expanding livestock farming in the Pantanal is therefore working in its favour
One of the most common birds in Brazil is the rufous-bellied thrush. It prefers open woodlands or the edges of fields, but water should always be nearby
But the rufous-bellied thrush is primarily valued for its phenomenal singing abilities. It has even become the national bird of Brazil
This plump bare-faced curassow is an unusual sight, with its crest of black, curled feathers. The orange-yellow base of the beak is typical of the male
Females can boast stylish plumage, with a pale stripe setting the tone. The belly, on the other hand, is a uniform ochre colour, ...
...while it is white in males. You can already see that in this young specimen
Jaak Palmans
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