Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on this page were taken by Paul Smith and Bernard Oosterbaan and are used with permission.
SHARPBILL Oxyruncus cristatus
The enigmatic Sharpbill is a large, canopy-dwelling fruit-eating bird that is the sole member of its monotypic family. Taxonomists have long debated its closest relatives, and it is generally placed close to the Cotingas. Its complex, green and grey plumage provides excellent camouflage in the dappled canopy light. Check out the bizarre call of this species, like a falling bomb without the explosion at the end!
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE1235PH) Adult ventral, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Bernard Oosterbaan March 2008).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE1236PH) Adult dorsal, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith November 2008).
VIDEO - (FPAVE1237VI) Adult, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith September 2010).
FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2
Oxyruncus cristatus
1 (FPAVE1238RE) Call  recorded Reserva Tapyta, Departamento Caazapá (Myriam Velázquez August 2001). 
2 (FPAVE1239RE) Call  recorded PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith March 2007). 
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website Xeno-Canto - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.