Chestnut-eared Aracari

Pteroglossus castanotis

The Birds of the World website introduces the Chestnut-eared Aracari with this descriptive information:  The Chestnut-eared Aracari is a medium-sized toucan of the Amazon Basin of South America, especially the southern and western parts of the basin.  It can be very common in its range and has the widest distribution of any of the aracaris.  Chestnut-eared Aracari is primarily frugivorous but also feeds on invertebrates.  It is an attractively patterned species with a large yellow and black bill, a pale eye surrounded by blue facial skin, dark upperparts, and a yellow belly divided by a red band.

I met my first Chestnut-eared Aracari on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.  Our Jeff Parker Tour group was staying at Southwild’s Pouso Alegre Lodge and I watched this bird as it hung around the main fedder at the Lodge.  The Aracari stayed high in the trees and never came down for fruit while I was at the feeder.  For details of my Brazilian trip that include the sighting of this bird, look here.  Below are a some of my photos of this striking and exotic bird.