Rio Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil, July 30, 2010
Rio Cristalino, Mato Grosso, Brazil, July 30, 2010
Some have argued that this should be split into three species. The trumpeters at Cristalino are the race dextralis. They have an olive-green back and range from the Rio Tapajós to the Rio Tocantins. (Click here for another view.)
Unfortunately, the illustrations in van Perlo's “Birds of Brazil” have problems. Figure a is labeled nominate race (i.e., viridis), while the different bird illustrated in figure b is labeled viridis. It appears that figure a is acutally dextralis. Further, the bare part coloration is more yellow on viridis and duskier in the other races. This is not properly illustrated. The paper by Oppenheimer and Silveira, which recommends splitting the Dark-winged Trumpeter, has photos of all three races.