Neotropical Eco FOundation

We are not what are probably considered to be ‘experienced’ birders. We have only been at it since 2004, but we have noticed recently that many species that were frequent visitors to our home and favorite birding sites can no longer be seen at these spots.

This southern hemisphere summer, drawing to a close now, has had unusual weather. The month of January was the wettest in recent history with over 440mm of rain, where the historical average is 267mm. As of the 10th of March, the average daily highs have been 2.2oC over normal and the average daily lows nearly 1oC above normal. There was a scant 1mm of rain when, on average, about 53 would be normal. Taken out of context these data might not be significant, but when you consider the recent convergence of scientific opinion on climate change they seem to indicate something.

Long before Europeans arrived in the Americas there was a large bird which foraged in the grassy marshlands and meadows, near the forests of the Alagoas and Pernambuco states of Brazil. The bird was beautiful, about the size of a small turkey. It had bluish black feathers with a big thick red beak. The feathers on the top of it's head formed a crest which was shown at times of fear or nervousness. The crest made it the king of the birds in that restricted forest area above the San Francisco river.

It was called Mitu by the native people in Brazil, today, we call it the Alagoas Curassow. It's call was short and low, almost like a cough, which made it hard to be heard and located. The bird was described by the German naturalist Georg Marcgraf in his book Historia Naturalis Brasiliae, published in Latin in 1648, the first important scientific work in Brazil. Marcgraf was brought to Brazil by Prince Mauritz von Nassau (1604-1679) who was Governor-general of the Dutch colony in Pernambuco. After being described by Marcgraf the Mitu Mitu seems to have dropped out of sight for about 300 years, putting in doubt the identification made by the scientist. In fact, the bird was probably hiding, since it is one of the most timid birds in the Brazilian fauna. In 1951 a Brazilian ornithologist, Olivério Pinto, rediscovered Mitu Mitu hiding in the forests of Alagoas.