The best season for bird watching on the São Paulo coast has started

09/20/2013 - 11h52

Ubatuba, on the Paulista coast, is an ideal city for bird watching. It is surrounded by one of the largest areas of intact Atlantic forest, the biome with the second largest variety of birds in Brazil (more than 750 species), after the Amazon. It lies at the foot of the mountainous decent to the ocean, whose many altitudes are home to several species of birds.

The best time to go bird watching in Ubatuba is now: between mid-September, when they start to mate and build nest, and mid-October, when it rains frequently.

To observe the birds, you need a guide that knows the habits and habitats of the birds and who uses the birds' own calls to attract them. Binoculars, which guides can provide, are also essential, because many birds are so small, skittish or distant that the naked eye won't do.

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My guide brought me mostly to private reserves, open to paying visitors and with trails that lead through the intact forest.

We started in Folha Seca, a nature site 15 km from the center of Ubatuba. Instead of money, its owner, Jonas, accepts bananas to fill his birdfeeders. We brought a dozen. Papayas are also welcome. The many fountains on site attract numerous hummingbirds (15 varieties) that fly around them as they are swarmed with bees. My favorite was a "besourinho-da-mata" the size of my pinky finger.

On a trail at Angelim farm (R$ 10 per ticket), 5 km from the city center, we saw a "viuvinha," a black bird with a white cap and a long, thin tail. We also identified an "anambeizinho," with a tail so short and square that it gives the impression that most of it is missing.

The next day, we went to Guainumbi Reserve (R$ 60 per ticket, including a one-night stay in a chalet), 18 km from downtown, as you climb 850 meters of the mountainous oceanside. Its birdfeeders attract "saíras," "sanhaços" and "tiês" of so many colors that the tree where they hung looked like it was decorated for Christmas.

At the reserve, we saw a king woodpecker, with its classic red tuft, and a "surucuá-variado," a large bird with a dark blue - almost black - head and an orange-red chest, which is only found in high altitudes.

The manakin is the official bird of Ubatuba, although the seagull might seem a more appropriate choice. After all, the city promotes its beaches, not its birds. So the majority of tourists have no idea that this resort has much more to offer than idyllic conjunctures of sand and water.

Translated by JILL LANGLOIS