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Curl-crested Aracari - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Stanley Jones
Tarapoto, San Martín, Peru, December 2016
Pteroglossus beauharnaisii

Identification

42–46 cm (16½-18 in)

  • Dark green above
  • Red mantle and rump
  • Yellow breast
  • Pale throat
  • Blotched red and a band of red and black leads to yellow belly
  • Pale blue skin around eye
  • Orange tipped bill, blue and maroon maxilla, ivory mandible

Similar Species

Photo © by arthurgrosset
Cristalino Lodge, Mato Grosso, Brazil, April 2003

Compared to other Aracari's note the uniquely coloured bill and pale whitish throat/cheeks (vaguely intermixed with black). It is also noticeably long-tailed. The curly crest is only visible up close, and has sometimes been used to justify it being placed in a monotypic genus: Beauharnaisius.

Distribution

South America: found from central Amazonian Brazil, south-west to northern Bolivia and further west to Peru. Among others occur in Cristalino (Brazil), Manu (Peru) and Tambopata (Peru).

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species[1].

Habitat

A species of the lowland rainforest, forest edges and clearings.

Behaviour

Aracaris are quite docile compared to the larger toucans.

Diet

The diet consists mostly of fruit, though it has been known to take eggs and young nestlings.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Arthur Grosset

Recommended Citation

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