Collared Aracari - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Reini
Laguna del Lagarto Lodge, Costa Rica, February 2005

Pteroglossus torquatus

Includes Stripe-billed Aracari; Pale-mandibled Aracari

Identification

41cm

• Dark olive-green 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
  

Juvenile: duller

• Brownish-green upperparts
• Pale yellow underparts
• Black head
• Paler red rump
• Indistinct breast spot, belly band and bill pattern

Distribution

ssp erythropygius
Photo by mmdnje
Buenaventura, El Oro, Ecuador

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

There are 5 subspecies^[1]

• P. t. torquatus:

• Tropical southern Mexico to north-western Colombia

• P. t. erythrozonus:

• Yucatán Peninsula to Belize and Petén of north-eastern Guatemala

• P. t. nuchalis:

• North-eastern Colombia (Santa Marta Mountains) and mountains of northern Venezuela

• P. t. sanguineus:

• Eastern Panama and northern Colombia south to northwestern Ecuador (northern Esmeraldas and adjacent Imbabura) - Stripe-billed Aracari

• P. t. erythropygius:

• Western Ecuador (western Esmeraldas south to El Oro) and northwestern Peru (eastern Tumbes) - 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

The diet includes mainly fruit, but some insects, lizards, bird eggs, and other small prey are taken.

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

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2015. IOC World Bird Names (version 5.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
3. Avibase
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Collared Aracari. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Collared_Aracari

External Links

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