Black-necked aracari

The black-necked aracari or black-necked araçari is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.

Loading map...

Distribution

Region

Northern South America (Guianas and northern Amazon Basin)

Typical Environment

Occupies humid lowland rainforest across Brazil north of the Amazon, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and parts of Venezuela. Favors forest edges, riverine and gallery forests, and tall secondary growth where fruiting trees are abundant. Often visits forest clearings and plantations (e.g., cacao and mixed orchards). Typically forages in the mid- to upper canopy but may descend to lower levels at fruiting shrubs.

Altitude Range

0–1200 m

Climate Zone

Tropical

Characteristics

Size35–41 cm

Wing Span40–50 cm

Male Weight0.21 kg

Female Weight0.19 kg

Life Expectancy12 years

Ease of Keeping

Beginner friendly: 2/5

Useful to know

The black-necked aracari is a small toucan of the Guiana Shield and northern Amazon Basin, often seen in small, noisy groups moving between fruiting trees. Its oversized, patterned bill helps it reach and manipulate fruit, and it plays an important role in seed dispersal. It nests in tree cavities and commonly roosts communally, with several birds squeezing into a single hole.

Gallery

Behaviour

Temperament

social and active

Flight Pattern

short, bounding flights with rapid wingbeats between trees

Social Behavior

Usually found in pairs or small groups of 3–6 birds that travel together between fruiting trees. Nests in natural cavities or old woodpecker holes; both parents incubate and feed young. Groups often roost communally in tree cavities.

Migratory Pattern

Resident

Song Description

Gives sharp, high-pitched squeals and yelps, often in repeated series. Also produces rattling calls and bill clacks during social interactions.

Unlock detailed bird insights with Pro access today.

Identification

Leg Colorbluish-grey

Eye Colorpale yellow

Plumage

Glossy black head and neck with dark green upperparts; underparts are yellow with a broad red belly band and red rump.

Feeding Habits

Diet

Primarily eats soft fruits such as figs and berries, plucking them with its long bill and swallowing them whole. Also takes insects and other small invertebrates, and occasionally eggs or nestlings. Plays a significant role in seed dispersal by regurgitating or defecating intact seeds away from parent trees.

Preferred Environment

Forages mostly in the mid- and upper canopy at fruiting trees along forest edges and river corridors. Frequently visits second-growth habitats and agroforestry systems with fruiting plants.

Population

Total Known Populationunknown

Black-necked crane

The black-necked crane is a medium-sized crane in Asia that breeds on the Tibetan Plateau and remote parts of India and Bhutan. It is 139 cm (55 in) long with a 235 cm (7.71 ft) wingspan, and it weighs 5.5 kg (12 lb). It is whitish-gray, with a black head, red crown patch, black upper neck and legs, and white patch to the rear of the eye. It has black primaries and secondaries. Both sexes are similar. Some populations are known to make seasonal movements. It is revered in Buddhist traditions and culturally protected across much of its range. A festival in Bhutan celebrates the bird while the Indian union territory of Ladakh has designated it as the state bird.

Black-necked grebe

The black-necked grebe or eared grebe is a member of the grebe family of water birds. It was described in 1831 by Christian Ludwig Brehm. Its breeding plumage features distinctive ochre-coloured feathers which extend behind its eye and over its ear coverts. The rest of the upper parts, including the head, neck, and breast, are coloured black to blackish brown. The flanks are tawny rufous to maroon-chestnut, and the abdomen is white. In its non-breeding plumage, this bird has greyish-black upper parts, including the top of the head and a vertical stripe on the back of the neck. The flanks are also greyish-black. The rest of the body is a white or whitish colour. The juvenile has more brown in its darker areas. This species is present in parts of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas.

Black-necked stilt

The black-necked stilt is a locally abundant shorebird of North and South American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean to Brazil, Peru and the Galápagos Islands, with an isolated population, the Hawaiian stilt, in Hawaii. The northernmost populations, particularly those from inland, are migratory, wintering from the extreme south of the United States to southern Mexico, rarely as far south as Costa Rica; on the Baja California peninsula it is only found regularly in winter. Some authorities, including the IUCN, treat it as a synonym of Himantopus himantopus.

Black-necked stork

The black-necked stork is a tall long-necked wading bird in the stork family. It is a resident species across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia with a disjunct population in Australia. It lives in wetland habitats and near fields of certain crops such as rice and wheat where it forages for a wide range of animal prey. Adult birds of both sexes have a heavy bill and are patterned in white and irridescent blacks, but the sexes differ in the colour of the iris with females sporting yellow irises and males having dark-coloured irises. In Australia, it is known as a jabiru although that name refers to a stork species found in the Americas. It is one of the few storks that are strongly territorial when feeding and breeding.