- Pteroglossus torquatus
Includes Stripe-billed Aracari; Pale-mandibled Aracari
Identification
41cm (16 in)
- Blackish upperparts
- Bright yellow underparts
- Black head and chest
- Red rump, upper tail and collar
- Round black spot in centre of breast
- Red-tinted black band across belly
- Chestnut thighs
- Bare black facial skin
- Yellow iris
- Dull yellow upper mandible with black saw-tooth pattern
- Black lower mandible, pale in erythropygius
- Green legs
Sexes are alike in plumage, but males usually have somewhat longer bills.
Juvenile: duller
- Brownish-green upperparts
- Pale yellow underparts
- Black head
- Paler red rump
- Indistinct breast spot, belly band and bill pattern
Variations
- P.t. erythrozonus: similar though smaller to nominate torquatus, but black breast spot is either reduced or lacking.
- P.t. nuchalis: generally has a larger black breast spot to the similar nominate torquatus. slightly lighter cinnamon on "thighs", notches on bill are not so deep, and has a broader white basal line on bill
- P.t. sanguineus: similar to nominate torquatus, but has a cinnamon-rufous nuchal collar; the bill has smaller but more numerous notches on the tomia of the maxilla; the tip of the maxilla, and sometimes of the mandible, is yellowish-white; there is a black streak along the maxilla, just above the tomia. The bare facial skin is black or blue between the eye and the bill.
- P.t. erythropygius: similar to sanguineus, but lacks the black streak along the culmen; and the mandible is mostly yellowish-white, with black confined to the tip.
Distribution
Central and South America
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru
Lowlands and foothills of Caribbean slope, rarer on Pacific slope
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Photo © by costaricafinca
Guanacaste, Costa Rica, 8 October 2008
There are 5 subspecies[1]
- P. t. torquatus:
- P. t. erythrozonus:
- P. t. nuchalis:
- P. t. sanguineus:-Stripe-billed Aracari
- P. t. erythropygius:-Pale-mandibled Aracari
Stripe-billed and Pale-mandibled Aracari are recognized as full species by Gill and Donsker.
Habitat
Middle to upper levels of tropical evergreen forest, semi-open and forest edges, coastal woodland.
Behaviour
Diet
While this species is a fruit eater with a wide variety of fruit in their diet, they also consume significantly sized insects and vertebrates of a small size.
In addition, they eat the hatched young and eggs of other species of birds.
Breeding
They nest in a bare cavity or old woodpecker nest. The 3 white eggs and young are cared for by both sexes for 16 days. They fledge after about 6 weeks.
Vocalisation
Call: a loud, sharp pseek, or peeseek.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2015. IOC World Bird Names (version 5.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Lepage D. (2021) [Avibase - https://avibase.ca/542B4FCB ]. Retrieved 25 June 2021
- Green, C. and R. Kannan (2020). Collared Aracari (Pteroglossus torquatus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.colara1.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Collared Aracari. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Collared_Aracari
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
