White-throated Toucan Ramphastos tucanus Scientific name definitions

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The loud, yelping calls of the White-throated Toucan are one of the most characteristic sounds of humid lowland forest in Amazonia, and can carry for a long distance. White-throated Toucans deliver their call with remarkable gusto, often jerking the bill and the tail upward with each yelp; these calls may be given in a duet, the calls of the female being at a higher pitch than those to the male. The toucans forage in forest canopy, and also enter adjacent tall second growth. The diet is typical of Ramphastos toucans: a mix of fruit, large arthropods, and small vertebrates (such as lizards, and the nestlings and eggs of smaller birds). The sexes are similar in appearance, but male is larger, with a bill that is even longer, relative to body size, than the bill of the female. The distribution of the White-throated Toucan completely overlaps that of a smaller species of toucan, the Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus). In eastern Amazonia, these two species differ in the color of the breast and of the bill, but in western Amazonia the color patterns of the two species are almost identical. The smaller species is a member of the "croaking" group of toucans, with very different, frog-like vocalizations, and has a relatively smaller bill.

White-throated Toucan (Red-billed)

53–58 cm; 515–700 g, 540–780 g (hybrid tucanus × cuvieri). Mainly black , large toucan with very long bill, white bib bordered by red band at rear, red undertail-coverts  . Both sexes with yellow-white uppertail-coverts ; bill dark red to orangey with green-yellow culmen stripe, basal area yellow above  , blue below  , with narrow black basal band; red mouth-lining; facial area green-blue or blue; orbital darker, to violet; iris brown. Female shorter-billed. Immature with spiky “heel” scutes, plumage sooty rather than black, bib yellowish-white, undertail-coverts pink or orange, bill browner, culmen pattern obscure, no basal line or “teeth”, facial-orbital skin grey-blue, iris blue; bill not fully adult until c. 1 year.

White-throated Toucan (Cuvier's)

53–58 cm; 515–830 g (cuvieri), 540–780 g (hybrid tucanus × cuvieri). Mainly black, large toucan with very long bill  , white bib bordered by red band at rear  , red undertail-coverts  . Female shorter-billed. Immature with spiky “heel” scutes, plumage sooty rather than black, bib yellowish-white, undertail-coverts pink or orange, bill browner, culmen pattern obscure, no basal line or “teeth”, facial-orbital skin grey-blue, iris blue; bill not fully adult until c. 1 year. Compared to formerly conspecific <em>R. tucanus</em> , present species is somewhat larger, uppertail-coverts  are more golden  , tips sometimes orange or red, has dark area of bill  blacker (but even some W birds often show red-brown near bill base). Race inca like nominate, but redder tips of uppertail-coverts, and regularly shows variably sized red-brown patch on base of dark bill, even on mandible; inca less variable in these traits than are highly variable hybrids of cuvieri × tucanus to N & E of its range.

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White-throated Toucan (Red-billed)

White-throated Toucan (Cuvier's)

White-throated Toucan (Red-billed)

E Venezuela, the Guianas, and NE Brazil E of R Negro and, S of Amazon, E of lower R Xingu in N Pará and N Maranhão.

White-throated Toucan (Red-billed)

Mainly lowland tropical forest, especially old riverbeds, late stages of successional forest and mature forest near water; forages also in earlier successional stages of streamside forest with Cecropia and Ficus; also secondary forest, forest edges and clearings, patches of forest where being cleared, dead trees in lakes, forest patches in savannas, pasture trees, plantations, gardens, mangroves, cerrado river forest, and occasionally city trees. Usually below 900 m; to 1440 m in Guyana.

White-throated Toucan (Cuvier's)

Like R. tucanus, is found mainly in lowland tropical forest , especially old riverbeds , late stages of successional forest and mature forest near water; forages also in earlier successional stages of streamside forest with Cecropia and Ficus. Usually below 900 m, higher in parts of Andean slopes, e.g. to 1200 m in Ecuador and 1350 m in Bolivia.

White-throated Toucan (Red-billed)

Size of group’s home range is large, but imprecisely known, and birds may move long distance at times, perhaps owing to failure of fruits, especially along Amazon and R Oyapuk in N Brazil; at Belém, as many as 1000 individuals recorded moving from S to N in Jun, with smaller numbers of R. toco.

White-throated Toucan (Cuvier's)

Size of group’s home range is large, but imprecisely known, and birds may move long distance at times, perhaps owing to failure of fruits, with large flocks observed in NW Amazonia, at Tefe, Brazil, in Jun–Jul. Considered only a vagrant to Mato Grosso do Sul, S Brazil (2 Pivatto, M. A. C., R. J. Donatelli, and D. De Granville Manço (2008). Aves da Fazenda Santa Emília, Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul. Atualidades Ornitológicas 143: 33–37. Close ).

White-throated Toucan (Red-billed)

Diverse fruits, including those of Astrocaryum, Cecropia, Coussapoa, Didymopanax, Ficus, Ocotea, Phytolacca, Protium, Psidium, Tapinia, Trattinickia, Syzygium, Virola, and palms  (Euterpe, Oenocarpus); also beetles, caterpillars, cicadas, termites, lizards, bird eggs and birds. Captives can prefer meat to fruits, eat various fruits, carrots, corn and peas, dogfood, myna pellets, mealworms, other insects, birds and mice; one survived well on bread, eggs, meat and a small bird daily. Forages in canopy, singly, in pairs  , or in groups of up to seven, rarely 20. Bounds, twists, reaches, holds larger fruits in foot. Dominant over all birds at fruiting trees. Mobbed as nest predator; once took eggs of flycatcher (Tyrannidae) despite mobbing efforts of 12 flycatchers of three species; success rate of attacks on nests of flycatchers, doves (Columbidae) and Yellow-rumped Caciques (Cacicus cela) varies from 20% to 100%.

White-throated Toucan (Cuvier's)

Fewer data than for R. tucanus, but diets  and foraging behaviour overall probably very similar: a broad analysis of stomach contents of 23 individuals (probably mainly of the present species) found fruit  alone in 87% and fruit and arthropods in the remainder (3 Remsen, J. V., M. A. Hyde, and A. Chapman (1993). The diets of Neotropical trogons, motmots, barbets and toucans. Condor 95(1): 178–192. Close ). In Peru, observed feeding on fruits of various figs (Ficus spp.), lauraceous species and Coussapoa sp., as well as nectar, flowers and perhaps even insects in Quararibea sp. and Combretum sp.; in Venezuela, seeds and fruit pulp in stomach contents possibly included Cecropia sp.

White-throated Toucan (Red-billed)

Song  yelping “keeow-yelp-yelp-”, or “Dios-te-de-”, very different from repeated single croaks of R. vitellinus, in phrases of up to seven “yelp” notes after longer first, notes often strung together, usually with pause between last “yelp” and the “keeow” of next phrase; female at higher pitch, using higher overtones than male; rattling, either vocal or by tongue with bill closed, often interjected among calls ; rattles in series at times, loud in aggression, soft rattles between mated birds; also bill-tapping at nest, smacking of bill against branches, soft “tuk” and “took” notes, “te-te-tut-tut-” calls; from begging nestlings buzzy squeaks, later wails.

White-throated Toucan (Cuvier's)

Song  and calls very similar to those of R. tucanus (which see), but song is apparently slightly lower-pitched and has a more frequent guttural quality; of next phrase; female at higher pitch, using higher overtones than male, one female gave 67 notes to male’s 83 in one minute.

White-throated Toucan (Red-billed)

Jan–Jul in the Guianas and most of Venezuela; Feb–Sept/Oct in N Brazil; and May–Aug in NE Venezuela. All detailed data are from Guyana. Pair leaves group, breeds in small part of group home range. Much play in groups, including bill-fencing, or “tag”, supplanting one another; sings from conspicuous perch, raising bill high, gradually lowering to bow, then raising again, tail flicking up as bill raised; paired birds allopreen, especially face and orbit, may courtship-feed all year. Nest in natural cavity, at 3–20 m or more in tree such as Caryocar, Eschweilera, Inga or Mora, cavity cleared of debris some time before laying; nest entrance 6–15 cm × 12–17 cm, cavity to 1·2 m or more deep, lined with wood bits and fruit seeds; same nest used yearly if breeding successful. Eggs 2–3, white, size 42·3–42·4 mm × 31–31·4 mm (4 Short, L. L., and J. F. M. Horne (2001) Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); incubation by both parents starting with first egg, either may perform most at night, diurnal shifts in one study 18–49 min, incubation period 15–16 days; hatchlings brooded often for c. 2 weeks, while naked, by both parents; both feed, perhaps female more than male, c. 2–7 times per hour; chick’s eyes open as feathers break out, at c. 29 days; faecal material removed at intervals; young can reach entrance at c. 39 days, fledge at 48–49 days, after which family leaves nest for good; post-fledging behaviour little known. Eggs and young preyed on by white-throated capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus). Probably does not breed until two years old or more.

White-throated Toucan (Cuvier's)

Jan–Jul in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela; Feb–Sept/Oct in Bolivia and N Brazil; May–Aug in Peru; and Apr–Dec in SC Brazil  . Breeding biology is presumably similar to that of R. tucanus (which see), but has not been studied in the level of detail afforded to the latter species.

White-throated Toucan (Red-billed)

VULNERABLE. CITES II. Common throughout range. Because of its large size, its dependence on forest, and its importance in tree-seed dispersal, this species is a good “indicator” or “flagship” species. Availability of nesting cavities and forest clearance present conservation problems as habitats are fragmented. This toucan is also hunted by native peoples and colonisers, and young are kept as pets. Based on a model of future deforestation in the Amazon basin (5 Soares-Filho, B. S., D. C. Nepstad, L. M. Curran, G. C. Cerqueira, R. A. Garcia, C. A. Ramos, E. Voll, A. McDonald, P. Lefebvre, and P. Schlesinger (2006). Modelling conservation in the Amazon Basin. Nature 440:520–523. Close ), this species is expected to lose 27–41% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (35 years) BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Ramphastos tucanus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/09/2014. . Since it is also at risk from hunting, its population is projected to decline by 39% or more over this period; it was therefore listed as Vulnerable in 2014 BirdLife International (2014) Species factsheet: Ramphastos tucanus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/09/2014. . Present in several large protected areas, including Canaima National Park (30,000 km²) in S Venezuela and the Central Suriname Nature Reserve (16,000 km², IUCN Category II).

White-throated Toucan (Cuvier's)

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Common throughout much of range (e.g. Peru (6 Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O’Neill, and T. A. Parker (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ) ); uncommon to locally common in Ecuador (7 Ridgely, R. S., and P. J. Greenfield (2001). The Birds of Ecuador. Volumes 1–2. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, New York, USA. Close ). Because of its large size, its dependence on forest, and its importance in tree-seed dispersal, this species is a good “indicator” or “flagship” species. Availability of nesting cavities and forest clearance present conservation problems as habitats are fragmented. This toucan is also hunted by native peoples and colonisers, and young are kept as pets. Present in several large protected areas, including Duida-Marahuaca, Serranía de La Neblina and Parima-Tapirapecó (39,000 km²) National Parks, which collectively form part of the 84,000 km² Alto Orinoco-Casiquiare Biosphere Reserve in S Venezuela.