There are countless birds in South America, and most of them can be found exclusively on this mainland. Such exotic birds are called endemic. According to ornithologists, there are more than 3 thousand species on the South American continent, which makes up about ¼ of all birds known to scientists living on our planet. Interestingly, half of them are real endemic. This article will present some names of birds in 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 settled life affected the structure of the birds here: their tails and wings are short. Almost all of them fly slowly, overcoming short distances.
Another characteristic feature of the local birds is that they are distributed according to the tiers of the rainforest. The first of them live directly on the ground, the second on shrubs, and the third on the upper branches of trees. The nature rewarded the latter with special generosity - they differ in a rather wide palette of the brightest colors.
The birds of South America, living in the immediate vicinity of the water bodies, are often represented by a detachment of ciconiiformes - herons, flamingos and ibises. The Andes mountains are inhabited by endemic bird species. The most interesting of these is the Andean condor. It is known that not a single tropic can do without parrots. By the way, this South American bird has about 110 species.
Pink Spoonbills
Their habitat is a marshland in the south of the continent. At first glance, they are easily confused with flamingos, however, looking closely, you can find a number of differences.
These birds of South America look rather unusual. When the plumage is pink, they have a bright green bald spot, as well as a huge shovel-shaped flattened beak, with which they cleverly 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. The wingspan can exceed 2 meters. Harpies are representatives of the hawk family. Choosing a place for the nest, the diameter of which can reach a mark of 1.3 m, they are looking for the tallest tree located on their hunting territory.
In search of food, they can spend hours circling the crowns of trees, looking for their prey. Noticing a monkey or sloth, they literally snatch them from 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 tree felling.
Toucans
These birds of South America, whose photo is located below, belong to the order of woodpeckers. They are considered almost the most vociferous 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. By its appearance, the beak resembles a claw of cancer, which is painted in different colors. Looking at him, one can only wonder how they manage to maintain balance. However, nature, as always, thought through everything to the smallest detail, making it very easy due to the large number of cavities located inside it.
Toucan is a plant-eating bird that feeds on various berries and fruits. Scientists have suggested that beaks of this unusual shape help birds easily pick fruit from thin shoots while they are sitting on a thick branch.
Krach Incas
Unusual birds of South America, which can not boast of bright plumage. They have only ash gray body color, black tail and red legs with a beak. What is so unusual about them? The fact is that Inca terns have a mustache twisted at the tips, like 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 inhabit the rocky coasts of the Pacific Ocean, and nests are built in coastal crevices. The distribution area is from Chile to Peru. Birds talk among themselves using sounds reminiscent of a cat's meow. The Inca Krachki eat fish, and sometimes even accompany whales, cormorants and sea lions. Ocean pollution and global warming have been the reasons why, since 2004, Terns-Incas have been included in the lists of animals close to extinction.
Red ibis
Speaking of the birds of South America, one cannot help but recall these representatives of the feathered family. Their bright red plumage, from which it is impossible to take their eyes off, delights and fascinates. They mainly live in the northern part of the mainland - Colombia and Venezuela. Red ibis settle near freshwater lakes and mangrove swamps. When drought comes, they can fly to places where it is most humid.
It is known that the population of these birds is gradually decreasing, but nevertheless, they are not yet threatened with extinction. At night, ibises sleep on trees, and during the day they spend all their time either in coastal lowlands or in swamps. There they seek out small fish, mollusks, crabs and various insects.
Hummingbirds are the smallest birds on the planet.
They live in both North and South America. Today, scientists know more than 300 species. Interestingly, just 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 lead a settled lifestyle and settle in those 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 gluttonous in the world, because during daylight hours it can eat twice as much food as its body weighs. By the way, her diet includes not only pollen of flowers, as we used to think, but also small arthropod insects.
It is worth telling another interesting fact regarding these crumbs. As you know, hummingbirds are lonely by nature and are very active during the day, spending almost all the time in search of food. However, with the onset of twilight and cooling of the air, they seem to numb, while all life processes slow down, and the temperature of tiny bodies drops to the level of 17-21 ⁰C. But as soon as the first rays begin to glide along the branches of trees, these amazing birds "come to life".
The natural enemies of hummingbirds are tarantulas and tree snakes. However, the greatest danger to them is people who catch these birds in large quantities for the sake of their bright and iridescent plumage. That is why they were on the verge of extinction.
Biggest flying bird
In South America, it is the Andean condor - the largest representative of birds in the entire Western Hemisphere. Its size is striking: the wingspan of these birds is up to 310 cm, and their length ranges from 115 to 135 cm! In this case, 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 is at risk.
Andean condor is mainly fed on the carcasses of dead animals. In search of food, these birds can fly up to 200 km per day. If they are away from the sea, their diet may consist of the remains of ungulate animals such as cows, deer and guanaco, who died from the attack of a cougar or who died of old age and disease. On the coast, they usually feed on the carcasses of various mammals thrown by the waves to the surface. In addition, they love to feast on eggs and chicks, ruining the nests of numerous colonial birds.