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Yellow-browed Toucanet | Aulacorhynchus huallagae
Geelbrauwarassari | Tucanete del Huallaga | Tucaninho-de-sobrancelha-amarela
The Yellow-browed Toucanet is a green toucanet found only in a small area of the eastern Andes of northern Peru. It is known from few sites and its natural history is barely studied. The short yellow stripe behind the eye is its clearest feature.
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Voice
Series of croaking and grunting notes, similar to those of related toucanets; the voice is poorly described.
Recording: Fabrice Schmitt — CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
37–40 cm. Mainly green, with a white throat, a faint blue band across the breast, a short yellow stripe behind the eye and golden-yellow undertail coverts. The central tail feathers have chestnut tips. The bill is bluish grey with a narrow white line at the base. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Blue-banded Toucanet Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis, further south from Huánuco, has a blue-and-white rather than yellow stripe behind the eye, a red rump and greenish yellow undertail coverts. Southern Emerald Toucanet Aulacorhynchus albivitta has a dark throat in this region, yellow on the black bill and chestnut undertail coverts. Chestnut-tipped Toucanet Aulacorhynchus derbianus has a black-and-red bill, no yellow stripe and usually lives lower.
Habitat
Humid cloud forest rich in epiphytes, at roughly 2100 to 2600 m. It forages in the canopy, in pairs or small groups, and eats mainly fruit. Little is known about its breeding.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Endemic to Peru: locally in the eastern Andes in San Martín and La Libertad, in the Huallaga drainage. Absent from Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and the Galápagos.
How and when to look
Cloud forest in the upper part of the Huallaga drainage in northern Peru; the known sites are remote. Birds usually sit high in the canopy; waiting at fruiting trees gives the best chance.
Conservation status
Near Threatened. The range is small and fragmented, and cloud forest is locally cleared for agriculture.
Scientific name
Aulacorhynchus huallagae | Carriker, 1933
Carriker described the species in 1933 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Aulacorhynchus was introduced in 1835 by Gould. The genus name comes from Greek aulax, 'furrow', and rhunkhos, 'bill'. The species name refers to the Río Huallaga in Peru, not necessarily the type locality. The specimen the first description was based on came from Utcubamba, La Libertad, Peru.