Emas National Park

National Park · Brazil

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Photo © Andreza Oliveira Borges

Photo © Andreza Oliveira Borges — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Source: Wikimedia Commons

Across the high plateaux of central Brazil, where the cerrado grasslands roll toward distant horizons under an immense sky, Emas National Park anchors one of South America's most dynamic and least crowded savanna ecosystems. The park's landscape is a mosaic of grassland, shrubland, and gallery forest—terrain shaped by fire, seasonal drought, and the ecological legacy of indigenous land stewardship. Here the cerrado pulses with life adapted to extremes: grasshoppers and beetles that sustain ground-feeding birds, small mammals sheltered in burrows and thickets, and raptors that hunt over open ground. The park's wetlands and water courses support their own communities, while the transition zones between habitat types create ecological edges where wildlife congregates. This is not lush rainforest abundance, but the subtle complexity of a fire-adapted savanna, where biodiversity operates on different principles—often concentrated rather than dense, and finely tuned to the rhythm of the dry and wet seasons.

For wildlife observers and landscape photographers seeking authentic cerrado experience without the crush of more famous reserves, Emas delivers on multiple fronts. The grasslands offer exceptional visibility for watching ground-dwelling birds and predators; the open terrain creates dramatic light from sunrise through evening, when backlit grass and long shadows reward both still and moving subjects. The dry season from May through September presents the clearest skies and most predictable wildlife patterns, while the rainy months transform the park's character and attract migratory species. Access via Goiás state ensures reasonable logistics without the infrastructure overwhelm of major Amazonian destinations. This is working savanna conservation—where you encounter genuine ecological processes, encounter fewer tourists, and leave with an understanding of Brazil's interior that most visitors never reach.

Website parquenacionaldasemas.com.br

Ramphastos toco

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

Bare-faced Curassow

Crax fasciolata

Curl-crested Jay

Cyanocorax cristatellus

Yellow-headed Caracara

Daptrius chimachima

Yellow-faced Parrot

Alipiopsitta xanthops

Turquoise-fronted Amazon

Amazona aestiva

Short-crested Flycatcher

Myiarchus ferox

Athene cunicularia

Red-shouldered Macaw

Diopsittaca nobilis

White-tailed Hawk

Geranoaetus albicaudatus

Aplomado Falcon

Falco femoralis

Crested Caracara

Caracara plancus

Peach-fronted Parakeet

Eupsittula aurea

Sicalis flaveola

Colaptes campestris

Rupornis magnirostris

Collared Crescentchest

Melanopareia torquata

Shrike-like Tanager

Neothraupis fasciata

Small-billed Tinamou

Crypturellus parvirostris

Tropical Screech Owl

Megascops choliba

Chalk-browed Mockingbird

Mimus saturninus

Southern Lapwing

Vanellus chilensis

Machetornis rixosa

Pitangus sulphuratus

White-eared Puffbird

Nystalus chacuru

Wedge-tailed Grass Finch

Emberizoides herbicola

Furnarius rufus

Zenaida auriculata

Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

Brotogeris chiriri

Swallow-tailed Hummingbird

Eupetomena macroura

Picazuro Pigeon

Patagioenas picazuro

Rufous-tailed Jacamar

Galbula ruficauda

Lineated Woodpecker

Dryocopus lineatus

Pale-vented Pigeon

Patagioenas cayennensis

Columbina squammata

Coragyps atratus

White-tailed Kite

Elanus leucurus

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

Campephilus melanoleucos

Rufous-sided Scrub Tyrant

Euscarthmus rufomarginatus

Thraupis palmarum

Red-winged Tinamou

Rhynchotus rufescens

White Woodpecker

Melanerpes candidus

Pale-breasted Thrush

Turdus leucomelas

Spotted Nothura

Nothura maculosa

Large-billed Antwren

Herpsilochmus longirostris

Southern Beardless Tyrannulet

Camptostoma obsoletum

White-tipped Dove

Leptotila verreauxi

Greater Thornbird

Phacellodomus ruber

Pale-breasted Spinetail

Synallaxis albescens

Passer domesticus

Ruddy Ground Dove

Columbina talpacoti

Fork-tailed Palm Swift

Tachornis squamata

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Elaenia flavogaster

Masked Gnatcatcher

Polioptila dumicola

Black-masked Finch

Coryphaspiza melanotis

Molothrus bonariensis

Red-legged Seriema

Cariama cristata

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

Cathartes burrovianus

Yellow-rumped Marshbird

Pseudoleistes guirahuro

Smooth-billed Ani

Buff-necked Ibis

Theristicus caudatus

White-vented Violetear

Colibri serrirostris

Whistling Heron

Syrigma sibilatrix

Cock-tailed Tyrant

Alectrurus tricolor

Streamer-tailed Tyrant

Gubernetes yetapa

White-rumped Monjita

Buteogallus meridionalis

White-winged Nightjar

Eleothreptus candicans

Black-throated Saltator

Saltatricula atricollis

Chopi Blackbird

Gnorimopsar chopi

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

Tyrannus savana

Brown-chested Martin

Vermilion Flycatcher

Pyrocephalus rubinus

Southern Rough-winged Swallow

Stelgidopteryx ruficollis

Tropical Kingbird

Tyrannus melancholicus

American Kestrel

Falco sparverius

Nengetus cinereus

Nyctidromus albicollis

Coal-crested Finch

Charitospiza eucosma

Nyctibius griseus

White-rumped Tanager

Cypsnagra hirundinacea

Horned Screamer

Long-winged Harrier

Sharp-tailed Grass Tyrant

Culicivora caudacuta

Grassland Sparrow

Ammodramus humeralis

Cone-billed Tanager

Conothraupis mesoleuca

Barred Antshrike

Thamnophilus doliatus

Buteogallus coronatus

Common Tody-Flycatcher

Todirostrum cinereum

White-headed Marsh Tyrant

Arundinicola leucocephala

White-browed Meadowlark

Leistes superciliaris

Little Nightjar

Setopagis parvula

Scissor-tailed Nightjar

Hydropsalis torquata

White-rumped Swallow

Tachycineta leucorrhoa

American Cliff Swallow

Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

Blue-black Grassquit

Volatinia jacarina

Burnished-buff Tanager

Stilpnia cayana

Plumbeous Seedeater

Sporophila plumbea

Rufescent Tiger Heron

Tigrisoma lineatum

Laughing Falcon

Herpetotheres cachinnans

Pearly-bellied Seedeater

Sporophila pileata

Grey-breasted Martin

Progne chalybea

Swallow-tailed Kite

Elanoides forficatus

Helmeted Manakin

Chiroxiphia galeata

Glittering-bellied Emerald

Chlorostilbon lucidus

Ash-throated Crake

Mustelirallus albicollis

Rusty-backed Antwren

Formicivora rufa

Bearded Tachuri

Polystictus pectoralis

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

Thalurania furcata

Rufous Casiornis

Casiornis rufus

Amazonetta brasiliensis

White-striped Warbler

Myiothlypis leucophrys

Rusty-collared Seedeater

Sporophila collaris

Chaetura meridionalis

Mesembrinibis cayennensis

Ictinia plumbea

Planalto Woodcreeper

Dendrocolaptes platyrostris

Plain-crested Elaenia

Elaenia cristata

Sooty Tyrannulet

Serpophaga nigricans

Cistothorus platensis

White-throated Kingbird

Tyrannus albogularis

Short-tailed Nighthawk

Lurocalis semitorquatus

Heliactin bilophus

Black-throated Mango

Anthracothorax nigricollis

Frilled Coquette

Lophornis magnificus

Blue-tufted Starthroat

Heliomaster furcifer

Gilded Sapphire

Hylocharis chrysura

Sarcoramphus papa

Hook-billed Kite

Chondrohierax uncinatus

Short-eared Owl

Swallow-winged Puffbird

Chelidoptera tenebrosa

Little Woodpecker

Veniliornis passerinus

Green-barred Woodpecker

Colaptes melanochloros

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper

Lepidocolaptes angustirostris

Rufous-fronted Thornbird

Phacellodomus rufifrons

Planalto Slaty Antshrike

Thamnophilus pelzelni

Rufous-winged Antshrike

Thamnophilus torquatus

Myiopagis gaimardii

Elaenia spectabilis

Southern Antpipit

Corythopis delalandi

White-throated Spadebill

Platyrinchus mystaceus

Masked Water Tyrant

Fluvicola nengeta

Piratic Flycatcher

Legatus leucophaius

Boat-billed Flycatcher

Megarynchus pitangua

Sulphury Flycatcher

Tyrannopsis sulphurea

Variegated Flycatcher

Empidonomus varius

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Myiarchus tyrannulus

Black-tailed Tityra

Rufous-browed Peppershrike

Cyclarhis gujanensis

Tawny-headed Swallow

Alopochelidon fucata

Creamy-bellied Thrush

Turdus amaurochalinus

Yellowish Pipit

Variable Oriole

Icterus pyrrhopterus

Screaming Cowbird

Molothrus rufoaxillaris

Southern Yellowthroat

Geothlypis velata

Tropical Parula

Setophaga pitiayumi

Lesser Grass Finch

Emberizoides ypiranganus

Swallow Tanager

Tersina viridis

Red Pileated Finch

Coryphospingus cucullatus

White-lined Tanager

Tachyphonus rufus

Chestnut-bellied Seed Finch

Sporophila angolensis

Thraupis sayaca

Crypturellus soui

Undulated Tinamou

Crypturellus undulatus

Southern Screamer

Chauna torquata

White-faced Whistling Duck

Dendrocygna viduata

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Dendrocygna autumnalis

Cairina moschata

Rusty-margined Guan

Penelope superciliaris

Nacunda Nighthawk

Chordeiles nacunda

Least Nighthawk

Chordeiles pusillus

Lesser Nighthawk

Chordeiles acutipennis

Rufous Nightjar

Antrostomus rufus

Nyctibius grandis

Cypseloides fumigatus

Great Dusky Swift

Cypseloides senex

White-collared Swift

Streptoprocne zonaris

Florisuga fusca

Phaethornis ruber

Planalto Hermit

Phaethornis pretrei

White-tailed Goldenthroat

Polytmus guainumbi

Versicolored Emerald

Chrysuronia versicolor

Glittering-throated Emerald

Chionomesa fimbriata

Crotophaga major

Pheasant Cuckoo

Dromococcyx phasianellus

Pavonine Cuckoo

Dromococcyx pavoninus

Common Squirrel Cuckoo

Plain-breasted Ground Dove

Columbina minuta

Picui Ground Dove

Columbina picui

Grey-fronted Dove

Leptotila rufaxilla

Pardirallus nigricans

Amaurolimnas concolor

Common Gallinule

Gallinula galeata

Purple Gallinule

Porphyrio martinica

Black-necked Stilt

Himantopus mexicanus

American Golden Plover

Pluvialis dominica

Gallinago undulata

Solitary Sandpiper

Tringa solitaria

Mycteria americana

Jabiru mycteria

Ciconia maguari

Anhinga anhinga

Neotropic Cormorant

Nannopterum brasilianum

Bare-faced Ibis

Phimosus infuscatus

Roseate Spoonbill

Butorides striata

Western Cattle Egret

Grey-headed Kite

Leptodon cayanensis

Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle

Spizaetus melanoleucus

Geranospiza caerulescens

Black-collared Hawk

Busarellus nigricollis

Rostrhamus sociabilis

Zone-tailed Hawk

Buteo albonotatus

Short-tailed Hawk

Buteo brachyurus

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

Glaucidium brasilianum

Blue-crowned Trogon

Amazon Kingfisher

Chloroceryle amazona

Green Kingfisher

Chloroceryle americana

Ringed Kingfisher

Megaceryle torquata

Amazonian Motmot

Brachygalba lugubris

Black-fronted Nunbird

Monasa nigrifrons

Channel-billed Toucan

Ramphastos vitellinus

Chestnut-eared Aracari

Pteroglossus castanotis

White-wedged Piculet

Picumnus albosquamatus

Ochre-backed Woodpecker

Celeus ochraceus

Collared Forest Falcon

Micrastur semitorquatus

Falco rufigularis

Scaly-headed Parrot

Pionus maximiliani

Blue-headed Parrot

Pionus menstruus

Orange-winged Amazon

Amazona amazonica

Cobalt-rumped Parrotlet

Forpus xanthopterygius

Golden-collared Macaw

Primolius auricollis

Red-and-green Macaw

Ara chloropterus

White-eyed Parakeet

Psittacara leucophthalmus

Geositta poeciloptera

Olivaceous Woodcreeper

Sittasomus griseicapillus

Buff-throated Woodcreeper

Xiphorhynchus guttatus

Red-billed Scythebill

Campylorhamphus trochilirostris

Streaked Xenops

Xenops rutilans

Planalto Foliage-gleaner

Syndactyla dimidiata

Henna-capped Foliage-gleaner

Clibanornis rectirostris

Rusty-backed Spinetail

Cranioleuca vulpina

Yellow-chinned Spinetail

Certhiaxis cinnamomeus

Sooty-fronted Spinetail

Synallaxis frontalis

Black-capped Antwren

Herpsilochmus atricapillus

Dysithamnus mentalis

Great Antshrike

Grey-headed Elaenia

Myiopagis caniceps

Greenish Elaenia

Myiopagis viridicata

Small-billed Elaenia

Elaenia parvirostris

Olivaceous Elaenia

Elaenia mesoleuca

Elaenia chiriquensis

Small-headed Elaenia

Elaenia sordida

Suiriri Flycatcher

Suiriri suiriri

White-crested Tyrannulet

Serpophaga subcristata

Mouse-colored Tyrannulet

Nesotriccus murinus

Fulvous-crowned Scrub Tyrant

Euscarthmus meloryphus

Sepia-capped Flycatcher

Leptopogon amaurocephalus

Chapada Flycatcher

Guyramemua affine

Bran-colored Flycatcher

Myiophobus fasciatus

Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant

Hemitriccus margaritaceiventer

Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher

Poecilotriccus latirostris

Yellow-olive Flatbill

Tolmomyias sulphurescens

Cliff Flycatcher

Hirundinea ferruginea

Euler's Flycatcher

Lathrotriccus euleri

Fuscous Flycatcher

Cnemotriccus fuscatus

Southern Tropical Pewee

Contopus cinereus

Yellow-browed Tyrant

Satrapa icterophrys

Crested Black Tyrant

Knipolegus lophotes

Long-tailed Tyrant

Colonia colonus

Rusty-margined Flycatcher

Myiozetetes cayanensis

Social Flycatcher

Myiozetetes similis

Lesser Kiskadee

Philohydor lictor

Streaked Flycatcher

Myiodynastes maculatus

Sibilant Sirystes

Sirystes sibilator

Swainson's Flycatcher

Myiarchus swainsoni

Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin

Neopelma pallescens

Band-tailed Manakin

Pipra fasciicauda

Tityra semifasciata

White-winged Becard

Pachyramphus polychopterus

White-naped Jay

Cyanocorax cyanopogon

White-winged Swallow

Tachycineta albiventer

Blue-and-white Swallow

Pygochelidon cyanoleuca

Hirundo rustica

Black-capped Donacobius

Donacobius atricapilla

Buff-breasted Wren

Cantorchilus leucotis

Southern House Wren

Troglodytes musculus

Rufous-bellied Thrush

Turdus rufiventris

Purple-throated Euphonia

Euphonia chlorotica

Violaceous Euphonia

Euphonia violacea

Pectoral Sparrow

Arremon taciturnus

Saffron-billed Sparrow

Arremon flavirostris

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Zonotrichia capensis

Orange-backed Troupial

Icterus croconotus

Flavescent Warbler

Myiothlypis flaveola

Golden-crowned Warbler

Basileuterus culicivorus

Nemosia pileata

Hemithraupis guira

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Cyanerpes cyaneus

Green-winged Saltator

Saltator similis

Bluish-grey Saltator

Saltator coerulescens

Buff-throated Saltator

Saltator maximus

Coereba flaveola

Grey-headed Tanager

Eucometis penicillata

Grey Pileated Finch

Coryphospingus pileatus

Silver-beaked Tanager

Ramphocelus carbo

Lined Seedeater

Sporophila lineola

Double-collared Seedeater

Sporophila caerulescens

Yellow-bellied Seedeater

Sporophila nigricollis

White-bellied Seedeater

Sporophila leucoptera

Copper Seedeater

Sporophila bouvreuil

Tawny-bellied Seedeater

Sporophila hypoxantha

Chestnut Seedeater

Sporophila cinnamomea

Marsh Seedeater

Sporophila palustris

Chestnut-vented Conebill

Conirostrum speciosum

Grassland Yellow Finch

Sicalis luteola

Black-faced Tanager

Schistochlamys melanopis

Ultramarine Grosbeak

Cyanoloxia brissonii

Giant Armadillo

Priodontes maximus

Hairy-tailed Akodont

Necromys lasiurus

Leopardus pardalis

Hooded Capuchin

Greater Capybara

Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris

Crab-eating Fox

Cerdocyon thous

Ozotoceros bezoarticus

Chrysocyon brachyurus

White-lipped Peccary

Six-banded Armadillo

Euphractus sexcinctus

Amazon Hog-nosed Skunk

Conepatus amazonicus

Myrmecophaga tridactyla

Dasyprocta azarae

Blastocerus dichotomus

Leopardus braccatus

Lycalopex vetula

Seven-banded Long-nosed Armadillo

Dasypus septemcinctus

Cerrado Naked-tailed Armadillo

Cabassous squamicaudis

Brazilian White-eared Opossum

Didelphis albiventris

Amazonian Long-tailed Porcupine

Coendou longicaudatus

Woolly False Vampire Bat

Chrotopterus auritus

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