Birds of South America: species, classification, habitat, nutrition, features and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

There are countless birds in South America, and most of them can be found exclusively on this mainland. Such exotic birds are called endemics. According to ornithologists, there are more than 3 thousand species on the South American continent, which is about ¼ of all birds known to scientists living on our planet. Interestingly, half of them are true endemics. This article will present some of the names of the birds of South America, photos with them, a brief description, as well as their habitat.

General information

The largest number of birds is found in the Amazon. As you know, in this region the weather is quite stable and there is no change of seasons, so the birds do not need to fly somewhere. It should be noted that such a sedentary life affected the structure of the local birds: both their tails and their wings are short. Almost all of them fly slowly, overcoming smalldistance.

Another characteristic feature of the local birds is that they are distributed according to the tiers of the rainforest. The first of them live right on the ground, the second - on the bushes, and the third - on the upper branches of trees. Nature rewarded the latter with special generosity - they are distinguished by a fairly wide palette of the brightest colors.

The birds of South America that live in close proximity to water bodies are often represented by a detachment of storks - herons, flamingos and ibises. The mountainous regions of the Andes are inhabited by endemic species of birds. The most interesting of them is the Andean condor. It is known that no tropics are complete without parrots. By the way, this South American bird has about 110 species.

Pink spoonbills

Their habitats are swampy areas in the south of the continent. At first glance, it is easy to confuse them with flamingos, but a closer look reveals a number of differences.

These South American birds look rather unusual. With a pink plumage, they have a bright green bald head, as well as a huge spade-shaped flattened beak, with which they deftly catch various insects, small fish and crustaceans. There is no threat to their extinction, but in some countries they are protected by law.

Harpies

These birds living in South America are considered one of the largest on our planet. Their wingspan can exceed 2 meters. Harpies are members of the hawk family. Choosing a nest site, diameterwhich can reach up to 1.3 m, they are looking for the tallest tree located in their hunting territory.

In search of food, they can circle over the trees for hours, looking out for their prey. Having noticed a monkey or a sloth, they literally snatch them out of the forest thickets with their powerful paws. The habitat of these birds is the wildest and most remote corners of rainforests. Recently, their population has been threatened with extinction due to uncontrolled deforestation.

Toucans

These birds of South America, the photo of which is located below, belong to the woodpecker order. They are considered almost the noisiest in the jungle. As for their size, they are slightly larger than an ordinary crow. They have a rather unusual and bright appearance.

They have a truly huge beak. It is always larger than the head, and in some species it can be up to 1/3 of the body. In its appearance, the beak resembles a cancer claw, which is decorated in different colors. Looking at him, one can only wonder how they manage to maintain balance. However, nature, as always, has thought of everything to the smallest detail, making it very light due to the large number of cavities located inside it.

Toucan is a herbivorous bird that feeds on various berries and fruits. Scientists have suggested that the beaks of such an unusual shape helps the birds to easily pick fruit from thin shoots while they themselves are sitting on a thick branch.

Inca Terns

Unusual birds of South America that cannot boast of bright plumage. They have only an ash-gray body color, a black tail and red paws with a beak. What is unusual about them? The fact is that Inca terns have mustaches twisted at the tips, like those of dashing hussars. They consist of tufts of feathers that start from the beak and pass under the eyes. The length of one mustache can reach 5 cm.

These birds live on the rocky coasts of the Pacific Ocean, and nests are built in coastal crevices. Distribution area - from Chile to Peru. Birds communicate with each other using sounds reminiscent of a cat's meow. Inca terns feed on fish and sometimes even accompany whales, cormorants and sea lions. Ocean pollution and global warming have caused Inca terns to be listed as critically endangered since 2004.

Red ibis

Speaking of the birds of South America, one cannot but recall these representatives of the feathered family. Their bright red plumage, from which it is impossible to take your eyes off, delights and fascinates. They mainly live in the northern part of the mainland - Colombia and Venezuela. Red ibises settle near lakes with fresh water and in mangrove swamps. When a drought comes, they can fly to places where it is the wettest.

It is known that the population of these birds is gradually decreasing, but still, they are not yet threatened with extinction. At night, the ibises sleep in the trees,and during the day they spend all their time either in the coastal lowlands or in the swamps. There they look for small fish, shellfish, crabs and various insects.

Hummingbirds are the smallest birds on the planet

They live in both North and South America. To date, more than 300 species are known to scientists. Interestingly, only three centuries ago, Europeans considered these babies to be insects. Hummingbird is a real miracle of nature with amazingly beautiful and bright plumage. Their average size from the beak to the tip of the tail is 7.5-13 cm.

Mostly hummingbirds are sedentary and settle in places where a large number of flowers grow - in mountain meadows and in humid forests. Despite its tiny size, this bird is considered the most voracious in the world, since during daylight hours it can eat twice as much food as its body weighs. By the way, her diet includes not only flower pollen, as we used to think, but also small arthropods.

It is worth telling about one more interesting fact concerning these crumbs. As you know, hummingbirds are loners by nature and are very active during the day, spending almost all the time in search of food. However, with the onset of dusk and the cooling of the air, they seem to become numb, while all life processes slow down, and the temperature of tiny bodies drops to 17-21 ⁰C. But as soon as the first rays begin to glide over the branches of trees, these amazing birds come to life.

Hummingbirds natural enemiestarantulas and tree snakes are considered. However, the greatest danger to them is posed by people who catch these birds in large numbers for their bright and iridescent plumage. That is why they are on the verge of extinction.

The biggest flying bird

In South America, it is the Andean condor - this is the largest representative of birds in the entire Western Hemisphere. Its dimensions are amazing: the wingspan of these birds is up to 310 cm, and their length ranges from 115 to 135 cm! At the same time, the weight of females can reach 7-11, and males - 11-15 kg. Habitat - Andes and the Pacific coast. Condors can live up to 70 years, but despite this, their population is small and endangered.

The Andean condor mainly feeds on the carcasses of dead animals. These birds in search of food can fly up to 200 km per day. If they are far from the sea, then their diet may consist of the remains of ungulates such as cows, deer and guanacos that died from cougar attacks or died of old age and disease. On the coast, they usually feed on the carcasses of various mammals thrown to the surface by the waves. In addition, they love to feast on eggs and chicks, destroying the nests of numerous colonial birds.