The fiery-billed aracari or fiery-billed araçari (''Pteroglossus frantzii'') is a

near-passerine Near passerines and higher land-bird assemblage are terms of traditional, pre-cladistic taxonomy that have often been given to tree-dwelling birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines (order Passeriformes) owing to mor ...

bird in the toucan family

Ramphastidae Toucans (, ) are Neotropical birds in the family Ramphastidae. They are most closely related to the Toucan barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over 40 different species. ...

. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.

Taxonomy and systematics

Major taxonomic systems have long treated the fiery-billed aracari as a species that is closely related to the

collared aracari The collared aracari or collared araçari (''Pteroglossus torquatus'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found from Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy The collared aracari was described by the Spanish na ...

(''P. torquatus'').Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022 At least one 20th century author treated it as a subspecies of the collared aracari. The fiery-billed aracari is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

. The species'

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

commemorates the German naturalist Alexander von Frantzius.

Description

The fiery-billed aracari is about long and weighs . Like other toucans, the fiery-billed aracari is brightly marked and has a large bill. The adult's bill has a vertical ivory line at its base. Its

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

is black. Its

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

is mostly red, with a black culmen, yellow tip, and greenish base. Adults have a black head, neck, and throat with a chestnut collar on the nape. Bare red skin surrounds the eye. Their back is blue-green and their rump is red. Their underparts are bright yellow with a red band across the belly and a black spot in the center of the breast. Their thighs are chestnut. Females differ from males only in having a darker chestnut collar and a shorter bill. Immatures have duller plumage overall; its pattern and that of their bill are indistinct.

Distribution and habitat

The fiery-billed aracari is found from the

Gulf of Nicoya The Gulf of Nicoya () is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Nicoya Peninsula from the mainland of Costa Rica, and encompasses a marine and coastal landscape of wetlands, rocky islands and cliffs. The first Spanish landing in Nicaragua ...

on Costa Rica's Pacific coast south into Panama's western

Chiriquí Province Chiriquí () is a province of Panama located on the western coast; it is the second most developed province in the country, after Panamá Province. Its capital is the city of David. It has a total area of 6,490.9 km2, with a population of 47 ...

. It formerly occurred as far east as

Veraguas Province Veraguas () is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. It is the only Panamanian province to border both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It covers an area of 10,587.6&n ...

. It inhabits the interior and edges of wet

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

. In elevation it mostly ranges from sea level to but is occasionally found as high as .

Behavior

Movement

The fiery-billed aracari is considered a year-round resident throughout its range.

Social behavior

Fiery-billed aracaris typically travel in groups of about six or more individuals that sometimes include other toucan species. They also roost communally; several may occupy a cavity overnight.

Feeding

The fiery-billed aracari's diet is mostly fruit but it also feeds on large insects, the eggs and nestlings of other birds, and other small vertebrates. It mostly forages in or close under the canopy but will feed on fruits in the understory. They glean fruit by stretching from a perch, bending, and even hanging upside down.

Breeding

The fiery-billed aracari's breeding season in Costa Rica is January to April and may extend later in Panama. The typical clutch size is two though sometimes more are laid. It typically nests in a woodpecker hole, either abandoned or from which they evict the woodpeckers, and which may be as high as above the ground. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known. Both parents incubate the eggs and provision the nestlings and fledglings. They are often helped by one or more other adults that may be from the previous season's brood. Young nestlings are fed mostly insects.

Vocalization

The fiery-billed aracari's calls include high pitched "'pseep' to 'sis-sik' in series" that are essentially the same as those of the collared aracari. It also makes "a croaking call, and soft rattle."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the fiery-billed aracari as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and an estimated population of at least 50,000 mature individuals, though the latter is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It occurs in at least two protected areas in Costa Rica. Its range contraction in Panama suggests that more research is needed.

References

External links

Bibliography
of online, ornithological articles which explore the natural history of the Fiery-billed aracari, ''Pteroglossus torquatus frantzii''.

VIREO {{Taxonbar, from=Q261306

fiery-billed aracari The fiery-billed aracari or fiery-billed araçari (''Pteroglossus frantzii'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Taxonomy and systematics Major taxonomic systems have long treate ...

Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Panama