Aracari
| Aracaris | |
|---|---|
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| Pale-mandibled Aracari Pteroglossus erythropygius |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Piciformes |
| Family: | Ramphastidae |
| Genus: | Pteroglossus Illiger, 1811 |
| Species | |
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14 (incl. the Saffron Toucanet), see text. |
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The aracaris (or araçaris) are medium-sized toucans in the genus Pteroglossus. As denoted by the presence of the cedilla on the C (ç), the proper pronunciation is "ahr-uh-SAHR-ee" not "ahr-uh-KAR-ee".
They are brightly plumaged and with enormous, contrastingly patterned bills. These birds are residents and native to forests and woodlands in the Neotropics.
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[edit] Diet
All the species are basically fruit-eating, but will take insects and other small prey.
[edit] Nesting
They are arboreal and nest in tree holes laying 2–4 white eggs.
[edit] Social behavior
At least some species of aracaris are unusual for toucans in that they roost socially throughout the year, up to six adults and fledged young sleeping in the same hole with tails folded over their backs.
[edit] Parasite
The ischnoceran louse Austrophilopterus flavirostris is suspected to parasitize most if not all species of aracaris, with the possible exception of the Green Aracari (Price & Weckstein 2005).
[edit] Taxonomy
One species, the distinctive Saffron Toucanet, was formerly placed in the monotypic genus Baillonius, but Kimura et al. (2004) was able to show that it belongs in the genus Pteroglossus.[1]
[edit] Species list
- Saffron Toucanet, Pteroglossus bailloni
- Green Aracari, Pteroglossus viridis
- Lettered Aracari, Pteroglossus inscriptus
- Collared Aracari, Pteroglossus torquatus
- Black-necked Aracari, Pteroglossus aracari
- Chestnut-eared Aracari, Pteroglossus castanotis
- Many-banded Aracari, Pteroglossus pluricinctus
- Ivory-billed Aracari, Pteroglossus azara
- Curl-crested Aracari, Pteroglossus beauharnaesii
- Red-necked Aracari, Pteroglossus bitorquatus
- Brown-mandibled Aracari, Pteroglossus mariae
- Fiery-billed Aracari, Pteroglossus frantzii
- Stripe-billed Aracari, Pteroglossus sanguineus
- Pale-mandibled Aracari, Pteroglossus erythropygius
[edit] References
- ^ "South American Classification Committee". Merge Baillonius into Pteroglossus. http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~remsen/SACCprop151.html. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
- BirdLife International 2004. Pteroglossus bailloni. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 27 July 2007.
- Price, Roger D. & Weckstein, Jason D. (2005): The genus Austrophilopterus Ewing (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) from toucans, toucanets, and araçaris (Piciformes: Ramphastidae). Zootaxa 918: 1-18. PDF fulltext
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pteroglossus |
- Extensive Gallery on Toucans
- List of Toucans
- Toucan videos on the Internet Bird Collection
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