Some Important Mammals of Amazon Rainforests

There are about 300 species of mammals found in Amazon region. Unlike other animals found in Africa and India animals are comparably smaller in size. All of the animals here are having special habit and completely different from the other animals of the world.

Jaguar, Puma, Anteater, Squirrel monkey and Capybara are some of the important mammals of the Amazon region

Jaguar

Jaguars are slightly different from the Leopards by the appearance of their rosettes. The young ones stay with their mother for a few years before finding their territory. At the age of three years they are fully matured and able to mate. Adult Jaguars wiegh from 200 to 250 pounds making it the largest cat breed of North and South America. They hunt mainly in night. The range of prey includes such forests and rivers animals as deer, pigs and fish. The Jaguars are good swimmers and most water loving animals of the Amazon region.

This is the symbol of strength in Central and South America. Like Lion in Europe and Africa, Jaguars are associated with royalty, strength and bravery in warfare.

Puma

The rosettes free Jaguars are called as Puma, the wild cat. It is a secrative animal and rarely seen in the forests. Because every Puma requires a vast territory to get their preys and also wish to hide from human beings. They can be seen when they are in a comfortable mood.

Anteaters

There are four species of Anteaters found in Amazon region. The Tamandua variety of the Anteater is tree dwelling animal. They are found in Amazon basin and also in North and South America. This variety of Anteater has long tail and wraps it around branches to keep falling down while eating ants and termities found along the trees.

Gaint Anteaters, the other speice shown in the above picture, in the forests of Amazon are rarely seen animal. It opens the red clay of the forest land by it's powerful front claws in the search of ants. A long sticky tongue extends deep into the tunnels of ant nests. It has no teeth nor jaws at all. The upper and lower jaws fused together to form a long tube to suck ants from the nests. Fine dense hair the texture of velvet prevent ants from biting. They are normally 8 feet long and wiegh about 140 pounds and having large claws to protect themselves from their predators such as Jaguar and Puma.

Squirrel Monkey

These are commonly found animals of Amazon forests and always found as a group in a strength of 20 to 100. The Squirrel Monkeys are always found near the huge bodies of water. Adult monkeys weigh 500 gm to 1000 gm. They grow upto 25 to 30 cm. with a tail length of about 1 foot. Their brain mass to body ratio is 1:17 which is greater than that of human ratio which is 1:35. Naturally they are omniveros and eat insects, flower, fruits and fruit nector. They are having many vocal calls and also make warning sounds to protect themselves from Falcons.They are active in both night and day. They get most of their water from their food habit and sometimes they get water from the holes of the trees.

Capybara

Capybara is the largest rodent ( rate like animal ) of the world. It measures 4 feet in length and weighs 70 to 150 pounds. The size is almost equal to that of a medium size dog. It resembles pig in body structure and has narrow ended face like rat. The eyes, ears and nostrils are placed on the top of the head. This arrangement allows it to plunge the whole body under the water and the habit is helpful to maintain it's body temperature. It is the prey of the gaint snake Anaconda of the Amazon region. Alike rats this is also having a pair of larger front teeth. This is not an efficient swimmer and easily become the prey of the snake Anaconda. Because of the lack of ability in swimming it prefers the slow moving stream of water or stable water as it's choice rather than fast moving river.

Some Important Birds of Amazon Rainforests

Amazon Rainforests are containing about 1,500 different species of birds. The region contains 1/3 of the world's total bird's species. It is virtually a paradise for a bird watcher. Many of the birds in the forests are the Southern and Northern migrants. Most of the birds are having strange appearance and special behaviours. The abundant water and vegetation with favorable climate for breeding make the paradise like home for the birds

Toucan, Macaw, Hoatzin and Great Kiskadee are some of the interesting bird species of Amazon Rainforests.

Toucan

There are about 40 species of Toucan in the Amazon forests. It's call is resembling the croak of a frog which can be heard upto half a mile in the jungle. They are brightly marked and have large colorful bills. The bodies are short and their tails are in 50 % length of the whole body length and have short necks. They are mainly feeding on fruits, insects and sometimes they plunder the nests of the other smaller birds and eat the eggs. They nest in tree holes or the holes already made by the wood peckers. They rarely use their bills as an excavation tool.

Macaw

This is one of the largest birds of the region. Most of them range from 35 to 50 inches long. Diets of these birds are fruits, nuts, plants and other insects like snails. Macaws are gathering in hundreds and even in thousands along the clay cliffs of Amazon, where they feed on minerals which help the birds process toxins found in the seeds they eat.

Spix's Macaw was the most beautiful bird of the area with a dark blue head, blue body and a greenish belly with a black mask and bright yellow eyes. It was totally killed in a recent deforestation and it is said that there was only 4 of them had been found around the year 1987.

Hoatzin

This is a primitive bird and a symbol of Amazon. This is one of the most commonly seen birds. The Hoatzin eats the leaves and to a lesser degree fruits of the plants. This is a long necked and small headed bird. It has unfeathered blue face with maroon eyes and it's head is tooped with a spiky. This is incredibly a vegetarian bird and mainly fed on fruits and leaves.

Great Kiskadee

It breeds in oken wood lands with some tall trees of Amazon forests. Great Kiskadees are 22 cm long and weighs 63 gm. The head is black with a strong white eye stripe and a concealed yellow crown stripe and the upper part of the bird is brown in color. The Great kiskadee is a common noisy and conspicuous bird. It is aggressive and drive away the larger birds entering it's territory. It is almost omnivores and mainly fed on small insects and fruits.