The araponga is a widely occurring species in the Atlantic Forest, with a distribution that ranges from the northeast to the south of Brazil, passing through Argentina and Paraguay. It stands out in the forest thanks to the contrasting white color of the male against the vegetation, and an unmistakable vocalization that resembles a hammer on an anvil. The female, however, is olive-green, with a gray head and a yellow underside with yellowish-green and gray streaks, camouflaging more easily in the forest.
Due to the fragmentation of the Atlantic Forest and illegal hunting of the species for cage breeding, it is now classified as endangered (VU – Vulnerable).
The species is mainly found in mountainous regions at altitudes above 1000 meters. In the southeast of the country, it is believed that the araponga is migratory. The migratory ecology of the species may also be related to the fruiting of the palmito-jussara, which also makes it an important disperser of the fruits of this highly threatened palm tree in the Atlantic Forest. To understand a bit about the migratory route of this species, the American Smithsonian Institute is placing GPS on the birds in southern Brazil.
SAVE Brasil
Brazil has 1919 bird species, making it the 2nd country with the highest bird diversity in the world. In the last 10 years, about 230,000 birds from illegal trade have been seized only in the state of São Paulo.
The Society for the Conservation of Birds of Brazil (SAVE Brasil) is a non-profit civil society organization that focuses on the conservation of Brazilian birds, and is part of the global alliance of BirdLife International in over 100 countries.
Focusing on birds, SAVE Brasil works to conserve natural environments and improve people’s lives, and has already contributed to the conservation of an area equivalent to 60,000 soccer fields of Atlantic Forest through the creation of Conservation Units, where it cares for the preservation of more than 600 bird species, 40 of which are threatened with extinction.
Source: www.savebrasil.org.br