FAUNA PARAGUAY BIRDWATCHING WILDLIFE AND ECO-TOURS NOCTURNAL TOUR

Main Targets:
To see as many species of nocturnal vertebrates and invertebrates as we can!

Recommended duration:
This tour is designed in consultation with the client. Depending on the chosen route we recommend at least 10 days.

Best time to visit:
This tour runs year round. For maximum activities levels warm and/or humid nights are usually required. On avergae the warmest and most humid nights are from October to March.

Itinerary:
This tour is designed in consultation with the client. Note that the price per person per day for days in the Chaco differs from days spent in eastern Paraguay. Our activity times will be late afternoon to close to midnight. We will also rise again briefly prior to dawn, going back to bed once the sun is up and sleeping through the morning.

(Itineraries are subject to change according to levels of animal activity or client´s preference.)

What else might we see?:
Not everybody was built for the "early to bed and early to rise" lifestyle. Some people are "night owls" and don´t really get going until well after midday. The good news is that that doesn´t mean that you can´t be a successful eco-tourist! Our nocturnal tours are designed to seek out the secretive and varied fauna that come to life once the sun goes down and, as a result, are often ignored by traditional eco-tour groups.
Everybody enjoys seeing mammals, but its a fact that they can be frustratingly difficult to observe. What we might see depends on the route that you choose but in the Chaco large mammals might include Jaguar, Puma, Geoffory´s Cat, Lowland Tapir, Chaco, Collared and White-lipped Peccary, Giant Anteater, Tamandua, numerous species of armadillo (including Greater and Lesser Hairy, Six-banded, Giant and Southern Three-banded), Crab-eating and Azara´s Fox, Crab-eating Raccoon, Plains Vizcacha, various species of monkey (such as Tufted Capuchin, Night Monkey and Dusky Titi) and Grey Brocket deer. Adding the Pantanal to your itinerary might bring Capybara, Marsh Deer, Coati and Giant Otter. Amongst the most regularly observed Atlantic Forest mammals are Azara´s Agouti, Black Howler, Paca, Jaguarundi, Bush Dog, Red Brocket Deer, Nine-banded Armadillo, Hairy Tree Porcupine and Brazilian Cottontail. Amongst the larger rodents and rodent-like creatures that we might encounter on our trip are Pampas and Yellow-toothed Cavy, Chaco Mara, Plains Vizcacha, Conover´s Tuco-tuco and Coypu.
Night birds include some of the strangest and most fascinating groups. Who for example can fail to be impressed by the bizarre Grey Potoo, a bird that spends the day imitating a tree stump and at night converts into a big-eyed vacuum cleaner for insects. Owls are perhaps the most charismatic of night birds. Diminutive species such as the Tropical Screech-Owl and Ferruginous Pygmy-owl have a wide distribution in the country, but for some of the harder to find species we will need to visit specific locations. In the Chaco we might see the endemic Chaco Owl or the gigantic Great Horned Owl. A visit to the southern grasslands might turn up Striped and Stygian Owl. While in the Atlantic Forest we could look for Black-banded and Rusty-barred Owl and the smaller Black-capped Screech-owl. The other large group of nightbirds are the nightjars. With cryptic plumage they are easily overlooked during the day, but at night eyeshine will enable to us to locate a variety of species including two of Paraguay´s most sought-after birds, the endangered White-winged Nightjar and the incredibly odd Sickle-winged Nightjar.
At the hottest times of year many reptiles continue to be active after dark. This includes impressive snake species such as the Boa Constrictor and the ornate Rainbow Boa, as well as the more typically nocturnal lizards like Chaco Leaf-toed Gecko and House Gecko. Following periods of rain during the breeding season the chorus of frog calls from marshy areas can be deafening and we will be looking for the performers. In the Chaco we may see Paradox Frog, Fuscous Frog, Horned Toad and Granulated Toad, Shovel-nosed Chamber Frog and Weeping Dwarf Frog amongst others. In the Atlantic Forest we may find eyecatching species like Yellow-bellied Narrow-mouthed Frog, Lesser Escuerzo, the enormous Pepper Frog and the delicate Earless Leaf Frog. Tree-frogs include large and dramatic species such as White-lipped Tree-frog and the strange Sauvage´s Leaf Frog, right down to the tiny Lesser and Dwarf Tree-frogs.
Our last major group of nocturnal animals are of course the insects. Paraguay is blessed with an extraordinary diversity of large moths and the two families we will be seeking will be the streamlined Hawkmoths (Sphingidae) and the attractive Emperor Moths (Saturniidae). Using light traps we will hope to attract numerous species of both as well as many other nocturnal "bichos".