Collared Aracari
Where and when to see the Collared Aracari
DraftMostly in Quintana Roo
It lives in tall and medium forest, mature second growth and fruit orchards. Look for groups in fruiting treetops; their sharp squeaks often give them away.
Where it’s reported most
- MuyilFelipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo
- Ruta de los CenotesPuerto Morelos, Quintana Roo
- Becán and XpujilCalakmul, Campeche
- Uxuxubi Al NaturalPlaya del Carmen, Quintana Roo
When
All year
Reported all year.
Reports relative to effort
- January: 99%
- February: 95%
- March: 100%
- April: 90%
- May: 90%
- June: 98%
- July: 80%
- August: 93%
- September: 92%
- October: 79%
- November: 94%
- December: 97%
Data: eBird and other datasets via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), 2015–2026 · Base map: Natural Earth
Travels through the canopy in small groups, eating fruit and sometimes raiding nests. At night several birds squeeze into one old woodpecker hole, tails folded over their backs.
- Identification
- A slim, long-tailed small toucan with a black head, a yellow belly crossed by a red-and-black band, a red rump and a big bill, pale above and black below, with a saw-tooth pattern. Birds on the peninsula have a small black breast spot or none.
- Voice
- A high, sharp squeak, “pseek” or “pi-cheet”. Its wings whirr audibly in flight.
What the photo doesn’t show
DraftIn single file
Flocks cross clearings one bird at a time, in a loose single file, with necks stretched forward and long tails fanned. 1,2
Raising chicks as a team
Many pairs get help raising their young: one or more extra adults help incubate the eggs and feed the chicks. 1,3
A Náhuatl name
It was first described from Mexico. Francisco Hernández wrote about it in a work published in 1651, under its Náhuatl name, Cochitenacatl, and the type locality was later fixed in Veracruz. 3
Less forest, fewer aracaris
It copes with second-growth forest, but Birds of the World says it is thought to be declining as forest is cleared, by 10–19% between 2017 and 2031. 1
Sources
- Birds of the World (Cornell Lab): Collared Aracari (opens in a new tab)
- eBird: Collared Aracari (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Collared aracari (opens in a new tab)
- IUCN Red List category, via GBIF: Pteroglossus torquatus (opens in a new tab)
- DOF, 14/11/2019: NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, Anexo III (opens in a new tab)
Map and months: 5,618 records from 2015–2026 from eBird, iNaturalist, and others, via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), in 0.1° squares (about 10 km). eBird: doi.org/10.15468/aomfnb.
Months: the species’ records ÷ all bird records that month, scaled to the busiest month. It allows for birding effort; it is not the chance of seeing it. A blank square: few or no reports, not necessarily absent.
Tell us where, or ask how to find one.
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