The return of everybody’s favorite giant rodents. These guys are very common along riverbanks throughout South America. In this case, I was in the Pantanal of Brazil. Typically capybaras weigh roughly 160 pounds, but there have been a few recorded cases of individuals hitting the scales in excess of 230 pounds.
The caju fruit is like the apple of northeast Brazil. It also happens to be the fruit that cashews come from — and that tufted capuchin monkeys love. This female capuchin was squeezing all the juice that she possibly could out of a caju fruit. It was dripping all over the place as she happily lapped it up.
These marmosets are small. Very small. Like squirrel small. They are a somewhat rare primate from northern Brazil, but gained a bit of popularity in the animated feature film Rio. I like to think that I knew them before the movie came out.
When I was in Brazil last year, I spent half a day scaling the side of a cliff, following my guide to the nesting site of green-winged macaws. Not much materialized as we waited patiently on top of the cliff for the birds to return home for the night. Finally, we saw this lone pair flying well below us in the valley. Not exactly the photo opportunity I was expecting but pretty cool to watch as they glided above the tree tops Green-winged macaws — also known as red and green macaws — are the largest of the macaws and they range throughout northern and central South America. Once fairly common, they are now faced with rapidly declining numbers due to habitat loss and illegal capture to the parrot trade.
I posted a very similar shot to this a while ago, but there was only one pale legged hornero on the capybara. These three look like they’re sending some sort of a secret message, one by one, to the big guy. To refresh, capybaras are the largest rodents in the world. This particular capybara was resting riverside in the Pantanal of Brazil.
I had a few captions ready for this Brazilian guinea pig but then figured I’d just post it and let you think what you will. This one was captured in northeastern Brazil at a place called Hyacinth Valley.
This crab eating fox appeared to be batting her eyes at me in an attempt to get some of my dinner. Every night, she and her mate would stop by the lodge I was staying at in the Pantanal of Brazil looking for scraps.
I was in a canoe, first thing in the morning in the Pantanal of Brazil when I saw this black howler monkey just waking up. Anyone who has been to an area inhabited by howler monkeys has probably heard their unmistakeable call — the alarm clock of the rain forest — which can sometimes sound like a jet taking off. The attached sound file is a bit mellower than some I’ve heard, but gives an idea of what they sound like.
I only saw a couple of these capped herons in the Pantnal of Brazil. They are very unique birds with their blue beaks and tassels on the back of their heads.
White necked herons are a fairly common sight along the rivers of Brazil’s Pantanal region. I was in a small boat, floating quietly past while this one was searching for fish.
