Jan to May
High water
The river runs well above its banks and more of the work happens from a boat, in among the trees rather than under them.
Expeditions · Roosevelt River · Birding
Birding the Roosevelt
An Amazon birding lodge on the Roosevelt River, with 330 bird species recorded so far on 16 trails cut and cataloged from the lodge. Fourteen miles of forest, and a guide who has walked all of it.
/ 330 bird species
Three hundred and thirty, and we are still counting.
You will not see all of them in a week, and we will not pretend otherwise. But the list is real, and the guides know where to stand.
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Harpy eagle
Harpia harpyja
The largest raptor in the Americas, and the one every birder asks about first. Rare anywhere. Recorded here.
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Hyacinth macaw
Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus
The largest flying parrot in the world, and unmistakable at any distance once you have heard it.
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Blue-and-yellow macaw
Ara ararauna
In pairs, almost always, and loud enough to find before you see them. The bird on the cover of this river.
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White-throated toucan
Ramphastos tucanus
Canopy bird, best before the heat comes up. The call carries further than the bird ever does.
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Black-faced hawk
Leucopternis melanops
A forest hawk of the understory, and a good day when it sits still long enough for a photograph.
Five of them are named here because five are what we have published so far. The rest of the list is being written down trail by trail, and it goes up as it is confirmed.
/ Sixteen birding trails
Sixteen trails, and all of them start here.
Most Amazon lodges will tell you there are birds. We cut the trails, cataloged them and counted the species. The furthest one begins three minutes from your cabin.
330+
species recorded on the reserve
16
trails, cut and cataloged
14 mi
of forest walking, 22,800 m in all
3 min
from the cabin to the first trailhead
/ When to go
There is no closed season. There is a water level.
The forest works all year. What changes is how much water is in the river, and that changes how you reach the birds — on foot, or from a boat.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jun, Jul, Nov, Dec
Mid water
The river sits at its normal level. Trails and water are both open, which makes the widest choice of ground in one week.
Aug to Oct
Low water
The lowest volume of the year. Sandbanks come up, the beaches open, and the sixteen trails are at their driest.
Water level as published by the operation. Which month suits a particular species is a conversation with the guide, not a table.
/ A day here
Out before the heat, and out again after it.
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First light
The best two hours of the day
Birds move early and the forest is quiet. Which trail depends on what was heard the evening before, and on the water.
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Morning
Trail, or boat
Sixteen trails run from the lodge and the river runs past it. Canopy work on foot, creek and margin work from the boat.
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Midday
Back, and out of the sun
The forest goes quiet in the heat and so does the schedule. Lunch, shade, and time to go through what the morning gave you.
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Afternoon
Second window
Activity picks up again as the light drops. This is when the macaws cross the river, and they cross it loudly.
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Evening
One long table
All meals included, open bar, regional cooking. And, for anyone still willing, the night walk: frogs, insects, and everything the torch finds.
/ All inclusive
Seven nights, and what they hold.
Included
- Charter flight from Manaus to the private airstrip, both ways
- Seven nights in a private cabin, single or double, on the riverfront
- Air conditioning, private bathroom, hot water
- All meals and open bar
- A birding guide, and the sixteen trails
- Boat and boatman for the water days
- Starlink internet
Not included
- International flights to Manaus
- Binoculars, scopes and camera gear
- Travel and medical insurance
- Gratuities for the crew
- Anything bought outside the lodge
Price · reserved space
The rate block sits here, sized for the shortest of the three shapes it can take, so the page does not move when the number arrives. The decision is still open and it belongs to whoever answers for the target.
/ Dates
Small groups. Pick your week.
Tell us the window and we will tell you what the river is doing then, and which trails will be dry.
Prefer to talk first? We answer in one business day.
Booking
Tell us the week
Four questions, about two minutes. We read every one and answer in one business day.
Check dates- What the river is doing that week
- Which species are moving
- Whether the week is still open
/ The other three
Same team, different week.
Three hundred and thirty, and a week to look.
The list took years to build and it is still open. Tell us when you can travel and we will tell you what the sixteen trails and the water are doing that month.