State of Maranhão

Maranhão is one of the twenty-seven states of Brazil, and is coastal being in the north-eastern region. It covers almost 332,000 km² (128,000 square miles) and has a population of about seven million people. São Luís is the capital and largest city with around 1.5 million inhabitants. To the north is the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Neighbouring states Pará to the west, Tocantins to the southwest and Piau to the east.

The northern portion of the state is a heavily forested plain traversed by numerous rivers, occupied by the eastern extension of the tropical moist forests of Amazonia. The Tocantins-Araguaia-Maranhão moist forests occupy the northwestern portion of the state, extending from the Pindaré River west into neighbouring Pará state. The north-central and northeastern portion of the state, extending eastward into northern Piauí, is home to the Maranhão Babaçu forests, a degraded tropical moist forest ecoregion dominated by the Babaçu palm. Much of the forest has been cleared for cattle grazing and agriculture, and the Babaçu palm produces edible oil which is extracted commercially.

Morro do Chapéu – ©Vitor 1234 CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The southern portion of the state occupies the lower terraces of the great Brazilian Highlands, and is made up of the Cerrado savannas. Several plateau escarpments, including the Chapada das Mangabeiras, Serra do Tiracambu, and Serra das Alpercatas, mark the state’s northern margin and the outlines of river valleys.

The rivers of the state all flow northward to the Atlantic and a majority of them have navigable channels. The Gurupi River forms the northwestern boundary of the state, separating Maranhão from neighbouring Pará, and the Tocantins River forms part the state’s southwestern boundary with Tocantins state. The Parnaíba River forms the eastern boundary of Maranhão, but it has one large tributary, the Balsas, entirely within the state. Other rivers in the state include the Turiassu (or Turiaçu) which runs just east of the Gurupi, emptying into the Baía de Turiassu; the Mearim, Pindaré, and Grajaú, which empty into the Baía de São Marcos; and the Itapecuru and Munim which discharge into the Baía de São José. Like the Amazon, the Mearim has a pororoca or tidal bore in its lower channel, which greatly interferes with navigation.

River Balsas – ©Otávio Nogueira CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The western coastline has many small indentations, which are usually masked by islands or shoals. The largest of these are the Baía de Turiassu, facing which is São João Island, and the contiguous bays of São Marcos and São José, between which is the large island of São Luís. This indented shoreline is home to the Maranhão mangroves, the tallest mangrove forests in the world. The coastline east of Baía de São José is less indented and characterized by sand dunes, including the stark dune fields of the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, as well as restinga forests that form on stabilized dunes.

The climate is hot, and the year is divided into a wet and dry season, extreme humidity being characteristic of the former. The heat, however, is greatly modified on the coast by the south-east trade winds.

Birding Maranhão

The state has no endemics, but is home tom a lot of Brazilian endemics, and some with very restricted ranges, which could be considered targets for the visiting birder. Among these are birds like the Maranhao Hermit (a race of Cinnamon-throated Hermit), Kaempfer’s Woodpecker, the as yet undescribed Maranhão-Piaui Pygmy Tyrant and Natterer’s Bare-faced Curassow. The dry forests and understory host elusive targets like the Scaled Ground Cuckoo and Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo. Even the capital, São Luís has some good birding spots including any suburban green spaces like Parque do Rangedor.

Caxias in the eastern part of the state, which features dry forests and cerrado-like habitats, supports a number of localised specialties. Arari, which is located in the humid rice-growing regions on the east bank of the Mearim River, can be really good for rails, crakes and other wetland species.

Rio Sipotiúa Estuary, Reentrâncias Maranhenses – ©Jose Augusto Faes, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Reentrâncias Maranhenses is a massive coastal wetland area on the western coast designated as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) site. It spans hundreds of kilometres of deeply indented coastline characterised by a maze of islands, tidal creeks, mudflats, and rich tropical mangrove forests and is vital for thousands of migratory waders. The dunes of Lençóis, that form part of the wetland are also an important area with environment protection, well worth a visit.

Dunes of Lençóis – ©Julius Dadalti CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Another important area of conservation is the delta of the Parnaíba, spanning the border between Maranhão and Piauí. It has lagoons, desert dunes and deserted beaches or islands, such as the Caju island, which shelters a number of rare birds.