Order
Piciformes
Family
Ramphastidae
Genus
Pteroglossus
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Collared Aracari Pteroglossus torquatus

Chase Green and Ragupathy Kannan
Version: 1.0 — Published October 16, 2017

Behavior

Introduction

Collared Aracaris primarily forage in the midstory and the canopy, where they often advance along branches with hops. Aracaris bath in water accumulated in tree catchments. They sun themselves and lie on the side on branches in order to expose undersides (Short and Horne 2001). Aracaris often fluff up the rump feathers, and droop the tail (Short and Horne 2001). While calling, aracaris swing from side to side, and also stretches, bows, nods, and jerks about (Short and Horne 2001). Both lone and grouped males in captivity can be either aggressive or serve as good pets for humans. Aracaris roost in cavities in trees, often in groups of four-seven; they occupy the roost for up to 11.5 hours a night (Skutch 1958, Berg 2001). Collared Aracari flies with fast wing beats, interspersed with short glides (Short and Horne 2001).

Territoriality

There is very little information on territoriality or home range size for Collared Aracari. At one site (Barro Colorado Island, Panama), three pairs nested within an area of 16 ha (0.16 km2) (Short and Horne 2001). In western Ecuador, however, Berg (2001) estimated a density of one group (nine individuals) per 333 ha (3.33 km2).

Sexual Behavior

Little is known about the social system of Collared Aracari, but observations at one nest suggest that they are have helpers at the nest, as up to five adult provisioned the nestlings (Skutch 1958). Courtship feeding has not been reported (Short and Horne 2001).

Social and interspecific behavior

Collared Aracaris typically travel in groups of 6-15 (Skutch 1958, Stiles and Skutch 1989), and sometimes associates with larger toucans, such as Yellow-throated Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus), Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sufuratus), and Choco Toucan (Ramphastos brevis) (Skutch 1958, Short and Horne 2001). Aracaris usurp cavities under active excavation by large woodpeckers, such as Pale-Billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis) and Crimson-crested Woodpecker (Campephilus melanoleucos) (Kilman 1972, 1977) .

Predation

Predators probably include a wide variety of bird-eating raptors, but observations are few; confirmed predators on Collared Aracari include White Hawk (Pseudastur albicollis), Ornate Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus ornatus), and Collared Forest-Falcon (Micrastur semitorquatus) (Skutch 1971, Thorstrom et al. 2012c, Whitacre et al. 2012).

Recommended Citation

Green, C. and R. Kannan (2017). Collared Aracari (Pteroglossus torquatus), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.colara1.01