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State of Tocantins

Violaceous Euphonia Euphonia violacea ©Dubi Shapiro Website

Tocantins is one of the twenty-seven states of Brazil. The landlocked state covers an area of 277,621 km2 (107,190 square miles). It borders the state of Mato Grosso to the Southwest, Pará to the northwest, Maranhão to the northeast, Bahia to the east and Goiás to the south; it also has a tiny border with Piaui to the east. The state has a population of around 1,5 million people.

It was formed in 1988 out of the northern part of Goiás, and construction began on the capital, Palmas. It is the newest Brazilian State and, because it is still very young, it is developing slowly, building on its most important resources: the rivers Araguaia and Tocantins, the largest hydro basin entirely inside Brazilian territory. Because it is in the central zone of the country, it has characteristics of the Amazon, but also has open pastures. The Ilha do Bananal, in the southwest of the State, is the largest fluvial isle in the world. There is the National Park of Araguaia, and the Carajás Indian reservations. Another highlight is the Jalapão State Park, about 250 kilometres from the capital, Palmas. There, the rivers create true oases in the dry landscape, attracting many eco-tourists to the region.

Tocantins forms the boundary between the Amazon Rainforest and the coastal savanna and has both habitats, but 87% of the land is cerrado; extensive savanna formations crossed by gallery forests and river valleys.

Serra Geral do Tocantins Ecological Station – ©MTur Destinos, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons

Alpine pastures occur at higher altitudes. Many rivers cross through the state (including one of the same name). It has an equatorial climate in which there is no dry season, all months have mean precipitation values of at least 60mm. It is usually found at latitudes within five degrees of the equator. Tropical rainforest is the natural vegetation in equatorial regions.

Agriculture represents 13% of GDP and Tocantins exports is dominated by soybeans, and, to a much lesser extent, cattle. As with much of Brazil, Tocantins’ economy is dependent on cattle raising, though the state’s pineapple plantations not only supply much of Brazil with the fruit, but also many other nations with it too. In the state’s north, charcoal and oils are extracted from the babaçu palm tree.

Rio do Sono – ©Leandro Trovello CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The federal government, seeking to broaden Tocantins’ economic base by funding the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the state, allowed a private company to construct a sizable five-turbine hydroelectric dam, blocking the Tocantins river and displacing some indigenous inhabitants. However, its contribution to the state is indisputable – one turbine alone powers the entire state of Tocantins while the remaining four provide electricity which is sold to other parts of Brazil.

Birding Tocantins

Tocantins may not be the first Brazilian state to attract birders, but it is rich in birdlife and has some excellent birding areas. Sought-after target species include Chaco Eagle, Kaempfer’s Woodpecker, Spix’s Macaw, Araguaia Spinetail, Bananal Antbird, Rusty-backed Spinetail, Rusty-margined Guan, Ashy-headed Greenlet, Brazilian Merganser and Orinoco Goose to name but a few. Of course, with a list of over 800 species there are many more commoner birds to be seen, with a variety of toucans, macaws, tanagers, flycatchers, hummingbirds and more abounding. Given the mixed habitats, particularly expect woodland edge birds.

Ribeirão Água Fria – ©Aracelis Torres CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

There are plenty of places around the capital with good birding such as spots like Ribeirão Água Fria featuring frequent sightings of shorelines and wetland birds along the rivers and streams. Further afield RPPN Canguçu is a premier private reserve and eBird hotspot recording hundreds of species in transitional gallery forests.

Bananal Island – ©Amanda Leite CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Araguaia National Park is located at the northern end of the world’s largest river island, Bananal Island; the rest of the island is preserved for its indigenous people. The whole island is subject to periodic flooding.

Contributors

  • wikipedia

    GNU Free Documentation License

    Wikipedia
Number of Species

  • Number of bird species: 841

    (As at August 2026)
Checklist

  • Avibase

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist includes all bird species found in Tocantins , based on the best information available at this time. It is based on a wide variety of sources that I collated over many years. I am pleased to offer these checklists as a service to birdwatchers. If you find any error, please do not hesitate to report them.

  • eBird

    PDF Checklist
    This checklist is generated with data from eBird (ebird.org), a global database of bird sightings from birders like you. If you enjoy this checklist, please consider contributing your sightings to eBird. It is 100% free to take part, and your observations will help support birders, researchers, and conservationists worldwide.
Reserves

Abbreviations Key

  • NP Araguaia

    InformationSatellite View
    Bananal Island, on which the park is located, is believed to be the largest inland river island in the world. It is situated at the junction of the Amazon rainforest biome to the north and the grassland and stunted woodland biome to the south; the river is subject to large fluctuations in level and the park is subject to periodic flooding. The Park's fauna is very heterogeneous, predominately connected to water. It is rich in birds, not only in abundance but also in diversity. There is a wide range of mammals in the park including marsh deer, other species of deer, peccary, capybara, giant anteater, maned wolf, jaguar, giant otter and armadillo. The reptiles present include the anaconda, spectacled caiman, black caiman and South American river turtle, and the rivers are home to many freshwater fish as well as Amazon river dolphins and Tucuxi dolphins. There are plenty of birds too, including the common toucan, anhinga, greater rhea, quail, partridge, osprey, Orinoco goose, heron. egret, Spix's macaw, hoatzin and musician wren.

  • NR Reserva Minnehaha

    InformationSatellite View
    The Minnehaha Reserve was a pioneer in the state of Tocantins. It was the first and largest private reserve and the only one with a Management Plan that advocates the conservation of its ecosystems. The Reserve is a mosaic with all the ecosystems of the Brazilian Cerrado, the last wildlife refuge south of the Serra Geral do Tocantins Ecological Station. It is included in the Naturatins Jalapão Ecological Corridor Project, being the link between ESEC Serra Geral and semi-deciduous forests that extend to the border with the state of Goiás.

  • SP Jalapão State Park

    InformationSatellite View
    The park covers the Espírito Santo dunes and mountains.
Sightings, News & Forums
Guides & Tour Operators

  • BirdQuest

    Tour Operator
    Our Interior Brazil birding tour commences at Palmas, the capital city of the rarely-birded state of Tocantins, at the southeastern edge of Amazonia.

  • Brazil Adventure Tours

    Tour Operator
    Tocantins & Jalapao Tours

  • Ornis BirdingnExpeditions

    Tour Operator
    On this new, short itinerary, we will explore an amazing cross-section of the country's interior, from the Chaco/Cerrado transition in the southern Pantanal to the Cerrado/Amazon transition in Tocantins!

  • Tocantins Birding

    Local Tour Operator
    Here, in the heart of Brazil, you can watch birds from both the Brazilian Savanna and the Amazon Rainforest.

  • Zoothera Birding

    Tour Operator
    Brazil really is the gift that keeps on giving. Our exciting Central Brazil birding adventure aims to fill in the gaps between your other visits to this amazing country targetting some of the rarest species on the planet. We will be visiting the seldom-visited states of Tocantins and Minas Gerais in our exploration of the more unknown regions of this fabulous birding destination.
Trip Reports

  • 2019 [06 June] - Bret Whitney & Marcelo Barreiros

    Report
    productive birding at Fazenda Praia Alta. The fazenda encompasses some 10,000 acres of mixed agriculture and woodlands right along the Rio Formoso, which is a tributary of the Rio Araguaia. Shrinking wetlands concentrated waterbirds, especially Snail Kites, Limpkins, storks and whistlingducks, the latter present in the tens of thousands and putting on an unforgettable show at dusk one evening as they restlessly swarmed off to nocturnal feeding areas against a gorgeous, red-orange sunset. Groups of Greater Rheas were a common sight, and we even got to watch a male trying to keep his harem together with hunched, wing-drooping displays. Local specialties Orinoco Goose, Azure Gallinule, Bananal Antbird, Crimson-fronted Cardinal, and an as-yet-undescribed spinetail cooperated nicely as well

  • 2022 [06 June] - Marcelo Barreiros

    Report
    After that, we flew to the state of Tocantins, one of the newest states in Brazil, stablished in 1990 and homeland for great endemic birds. The Praia Alta hotel was great, as always, and the birding places also wonderful.

  • 2025 [10 October] - Eduardo Patrial

    PDF Report
    ...we recorded over 410 bird species: woodpeckers and parrots were insane – endemic Kaempfer’s Woodpecker plus Pale-crested, Ochre-backed, Ringed, Whitefronted and Checkered Woodpeckers; the endangered and range-restricted Pfrimer’s Parakeet plus Blaze-winged, Santarem, Nanday and Jadaya Parakeets, Yellow-faced Parrot and Hyacinth and Golden-collared Macaws...

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