MBARACAYU FOREST RESERVE 
PARAGUAY

AMAMBAY (E)

24o07’03’’S/55o23’30’’W 64,405ha (whole forest 280,000ha) 235m flat with some hills in north 
EBA075 interior Atlantic forest lowlands, cerrado, dwarf palm cerrado 
government forest reserve 

 

Birding Site Guide

On a recent tour with Paul Smith. Highlights were two singing male Bare-necked Bellbirds, several Saffron Toucanets and Green-billed Toucans, a pair of Blond-crested Woodpecker, Riverside Warbler, a co-operative flock of Scaled Pigeon, a pair of Black-fronted Piping-guan, an approachable Nacunda Nighthawk roosting on the grass in front of the accommodation and a roosting Black-capped Screech-owl. In the forest mixed flocks contained some interesting species such as Streak-capped Antwren and Chestnut-bellied Euphonia. In the cerrado remarkable species included Burnished-buff Tanager, Planalto Hermit and Lesser Seedfinch. 


September-November (time visited)

Access is with permit only from Moisés Bertoni Foundation (see their website address at foot), or with the tour operator DTP, Asuncion. Moisés Bertoni Foundation may tell you that you need to be accompanied by a forest guard at all times, pay for entry to the park and pay for use of their vehicle there, but generally the price of the accommodation is all you need pay. From Asuncion take the bus US$6 along the dirt road to Ygatimi, the bus should arrive around 06.00. Here you need to call the forest guards to pick you up and take you to the reserve (Moisés Bertoni Foundation can arrange this when you get permission to visit off them) and they will take you to the accommodation at Jejui-Mi. There is a runway and you may be able to fly in as some famous pop stars do! 

There is one double room and 3 dormitory rooms with 4 to 6 beds in each. There are 2 bathrooms with showers and hot water and a kitchen with fridge. A local chef can be hired if you enquire with the forest guard but you must provide all your own food for your stay. The cost of accommodation is US$7 per person per night. Jejui-Mi is set in a forest clearing, with a nearby observation tower and the birding is good around here. 

From here you can also drive and bird through forest along (the dirt) road heading left (E) towards a lake called Lagunita 13km away. At the lake there is another watchtower. At the lake there is a small area of cerrado but continuing along E another 10km you head into more good forest then dwarf palm cerrado, before arriving at the E side entrance, Agura Nũ, there are further watchtowers in the cerrado. There is no accommodation at this entrance and the forest from the lake to the entrance is restricted access and you will need a forest guard with you; if you get permission to go, you are not allowed to walk around here either. These restrictions are due to the presence of White-winged Nightjar, to see this species it is easier to visit Laguna Blanca (see account). There is a further entrance at the NE corner of the reserve, to reach it you have to leave via Jejui-Mi entrance and head N along the W boundary and E along the N boundary. Here there is a guard house (Karapa) and a long trail through the forest. There is also a trial to the Carapó Waterfall from the picnic area, along which Bare-faced Currassow can be seen. You can continue over the stream beyond the waterfall to a view point over the forest. 



Charles Hesse (29th June, 2005). This site is managed by Fundacion Moises Bertoni and visits must be coordinated through them. See the above contact details. 2 buses a day leave to Villa Ygatimi (the nearest town) from the bus terminal in Asuncion. The Canindeyu bus company service leaves at 2pm and arrives at 9 or 10pm depending on road conditions. The San Jorge bus company service leaves at 10pm and arrives at about 7am the next morning. The price is about 45000 Guarani per person. Services return at 6pm and 8pm arriving very early in the morning back in Asuncion. A bus may also leave Villa Ygatimi early in the morning. On reaching Villa Ygatimi we asked directions to the office of FMB which is well known. We coordinated transport from Villa Ygatimi to the reserve and back through FMB. We paid $15 in total for this. The entrance fee into the reserve (payable just once) was $5 per person and it was $15 per person per night to stay in the reserve. We stayed 2 nights at the Jejuimi guard post which is also the headquarters for the reserve and 1 night at the Aguara Nyu post about 40km away on the other side of the reserve. We were not charged for transport to Aguara Nyu and back. The head forest guard was called Don Tito. He and all the other staff were very friendly and helpful. It is necessary to hire a guide through FMB which also costs $20 per day. Freddie guided us and was very knowledgeable about the birds but spoke no English. The clearing around the Jejuimi guard post was good for birds in the early morning. The road towards Aguara Nyu was good for birds especially between km2 and km4. There were also a couple of trails, one leading from about 50m along this road and 1 leading from km2. The area around Aguara Nyu was not forest but Cerrado and had completely different birds including White-banded Tanagers. 13km from Jejuimi is a lake called Lagunita that was almost dry when we were there. The forest here and nearby has Bare-throated Bellbird which was easy to hear but very difficult to find even when standing below the tree they are in. I saw 75 species including 16 lifers.

 
Species seen

  • Greater Rhea Rhea americana Near-threatened
  • Undulated Tinamou h Crypturellus undulatus
  • Tataupa Tinamou Crypturellus tataupa
  • Whistling Heron Syrigma sibilatrix
  • Rufescent Tiger-Heron Tigrisoma lineatum
  • Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata
  • Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
  • Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
  • Snail Kite Rostrhamus sociabilis Seen on way to Villa Ygatimi
  • Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris
  • White-tailed Hawk Buteo albicaudatus
  • American Kestrel Falco sparverius
  • Rusty-margined Guan h Penelope superciliaris
  • Limpkin Aramus guarauna Seen on way to Villa Ygatimi
  • Wattled Jacana Jacana jacana
  • Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis
  • Scaled Pigeon Patagioenas speciosa
  • Picazuro Pigeon Patagioenas picazuro
  • Ruddy Ground-Dove Columbina talpacoti
  • Scaled Dove Columbina squammata
  • White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi
  • White-eyed Parakeet Aratinga leucophthalmus
  • Maroon-bellied Parakeet Pyrrhura frontalis
  • Blue-winged Parrotlet Forpus xanthopterygius
  • Scaly-headed Parrot Pionus maximiliani
  • Blue-fronted Parrot Amazona aestiva
  • Squirrel Cuckoo Piaya cayana
  • Smooth-billed Ani Crotophaga ani
  • Guira Cuckoo Guira guira
  • Pavonine Cuckoo h Dromococcyx pavoninus
  • Tropical Screech-Owl Megascops choliba
  • Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl h? Glaucidium brasilianum
  • Black-throated Trogon h Trogon rufus
  • Rufous-capped Motmot Baryphthengus ruficapillus
  • White-eared Puffbird Nystalus chacuru
  • Chestnut-eared Aracari Pteroglossus castanotis
  • Spot-billed Toucanet Selenidera maculirostris
  • Toco Toucan Ramphastos toco
  • Yellow-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes flavifrons
  • Campo Flicker Colaptes campestris
  • Blond-crested Woodpecker Celeus flavescens
  • Rufous Hornero Furnarius rufus
  • Pale-breasted Spinetail Synallaxis albescens
  • Narrow-billed Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes angustirostris
  • Spot-backed Antshrike Hypoedaleus guttatus
  • Plain Antvireo Dysithamnus mentalis
  • Rusty-backed Antwren Formicivora rufa
  • Bare-throated Bellbird h Procnias nudicollis Near-threatened
  • Band-tailed Manakin Pipra fasciicauda
  • Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant Euscarthmus meloryphus
  • Eared Pygmy-Tyrant Myiornis auricularis
  • Streamer-tailed Tyrant Gubernetes yetapa
  • Cattle Tyrant Machetornis rixosus
  • Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
  • Three-striped Flycatcher Conopias trivirgata
  • Black-tailed Tityra Tityra cayana
  • House Wren Troglodytes aedon
  • Chalk-browed Mockingbird Mimus saturninus
  • Pale-breasted Thrush Turdus leucomelas
  • Creamy-bellied Thrush Turdus amaurochalinus
  • Purplish Jay Cyanocorax cyanomelas
  • Curl-crested Jay Cyanocorax cristatellus
  • Plush-crested Jay Cyanocorax chrysops
  • Golden-crowned Warbler Basileuterus culicivorus
  • White-banded Tanager Neothraupis fasciata Near-threatened
  • Magpie Tanager Cissopis leveriana
  • Black-goggled Tanager Trichothraupis melanops
  • Sayaca Tanager Thraupis sayaca
  • Red-crested Finch Coryphospingus cucullatus
  • Plumbeous Seedeater Sporophila plumbea
  • Rusty-collared Seedeater ? Sporophila collaris
  • Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch Emberizoides herbicola
  • Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis
  • Black-throated Saltator Saltator atricollis
  • Red-rumped Cacique Cacicus haemorrhous


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Fundacion Moises Bertoni 


Procer Arguello 208. This road is near the intersections of Mariscal Lopez and Republica Argentina which are both large streets. There is also a modern looking building here with TIGO written in big letters. Coming along Mariscal Lopez from the city centre cross this junction and take the next road on the right. A number 31 bus from Cerro Cora in the town centre passes the junction. 


Tel: (595 21) 600855 or 608740 Fax: 608741 
Maria del Carmen (Extension 119) organized logistical details and payment. 

Myrium del Carmen (Ext. 132) is an ornithologist and knows the reserve very well. Both speak good English. 

Moisés Bertoni Foundation www.mbertoni.org.py/ingles/index2en.htm 

Species Notes 
Around 415 species of bird have been recorded. 

Relevant BENES list 
SOUTH & EAST BRAZIL FORESTS BENES (Biome Endemics and Near-Endemics list) and CERRADO BENES (Biome Endemics and Near-Endemics list) 

Other Fauna 

There have been 85 species of mammal seen. Maned Wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus CITES App. II, (under review Near Threatened) is easily seen in the cerrado, and crosses the road in daylight. 

 

Flora

Over 2,500 species of plant have been recorded. Dwarf palm cerrado is found at this reserve and nowhere else on earth.


Account: BSG. Charles Hesse. Paul Smith

 

For more information on volunteering on bird study projects in Paraguay, or for customised bird tours to anywhere in Paraguay contact Paul Smith via his website Fauna Paraguay or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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