This site is about the avifauna of the semiarid interior of Ceará, a state in tropical northeastern Brazil. I am a resident here, I am interested in the local fauna, and I studied the bird life in my surroundings, mainly in two locations: in "Fazenda Canaã", a farm where I lived from 2001 to 2006, and in the nature reserve "Reserva Ecológica Mãe-da-Lua", where I am living now.

Fazenda Canaã is a 261 hectare farm in the municipality of Pentecoste, about 60 km west of Fortaleza. The farm is situated in lowland, and most of the vegetation is secondary growth arboreal caatinga, 3-8 m high. See section Habitat and climate for more details.

Reserva ecológica Mãe-da-Lua is a 764 hectare nature reserve in the municipality of Itapajé, about 100 km west of Fortaleza. The reserve is owned by the non-profit organization "Associação Mãe-da-Lua", of which I am a founding member. Part of the reserve is flat land; and part is low mountain range, with altitudes up to 650 m. Much of the vegetation, especially in the higher altitudes, is well-preserved, mature secondary growth with an impressing biodiversity; frequently, one can even see monkeys (Cebus apella, the Brown Capuchin). See Habitat and climate.

I spent countless hours in the bush and forest of these sites, watching birds, taking pictures and recording vocalizations. Section List of species contains a register of the bird species I could positively identify. Photos are accessible by clicking on the species names in the List of species or in the Index. I am now adding voice recordings, but this is still "work in progress".

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The study areas have many kilometers of trails, which lead through the different habitats (as characterized by vegetation, water availability, elevation etc.), and I observed and photographed many birds while walking on these trails, or hiding nearby behind natural cover, like bushes or trees.

In addition, I used bird watching hides, for example mobile plywood hides (click for photo), and in Fazenda Canaã, I also had an elevated hide, mounted on top of a 4 m high steel structure (an adapted "catavento" wind wheel tower). These hides were positioned wherever I saw a promising situation. For instance, this picture of the cactus parakeet was taken from the mounted hide, placed close to a cirigüela tree (Spondias purpurea) with ripe fruits.

Sometimes, bait was used to attract birds to the vicinity of a hide. For doves and finches, seeds were scattered on the ground. Vultures were lured with sheep intestines.


Nearly all species were identified visually, or by combining visual and acoustic clues. Some species were identified by their vocalizations alone, for example Nyctibius griseus, the "Mother-of-the-moon" (Mãe-da-Lua), which is quite common in this region, but which I have not yet seen.

The most important references for species identification were the following:

For Passeriformes: "The Birds of South America", by Ridgely and Tudor, vol. 1 (1989), and vol. 2 (1994); and the "Handbook of the Birds of the World" (Del Hoyo et al., eds.), vol. 8 (2003, for Thamnophilidae) and vol. 9 (2004, for Tyrannidae).

For non-Passeriformes: Birding guides for neighboring countries, like "Birds of Venezuela" by Hilty 2003, and "A Guide to the Birds of Colombia", by Hilty and Brown 1986. Since 2007, I also use the recently published "Field guide to the Birds of South America" by Mata et al. 2006.

Additionally, I have consulted many other books and papers; see References.

A useful tool for identification of vocalizations was the internet site xeno-canto by Bob Planque. I also wish to thank Ciro Albano and Weber Girão Silva for their valuable help. See References for CDs of bird vocalizations which I occasionally used.