Animals and plants of tropical forests. Toucans This noisy bird living in the rainforest

A noisy bird living in the rainforest. It is easily recognizable by its huge and very light yellow beak, the length of which reaches almost half the length of the body. This bird does not know how to fly well and far, therefore it spends most of its time in hollow trees. Notable for their appearance. The first thing that catches your eye is the disproportionately large, brightly colored beak. Its length is almost equal to the length of the bird's body. The large beak does not cause any inconvenience to the bird: it is very light due to the presence of pneumatic cavities in it. The beak of toucanites is very different from that of adult birds. In chicks, it is flat, and the lower jaw is somewhat longer and wider than the upper one; this facilitates the grasping of feed thrown by adult birds. The tongue of toucans is long, its front part and edges are fringed, which gives it a feathery appearance. The skin around the corners of the mouth and around the eyes is not feathery and brightly colored. Contrasting color of plumage. Usually, on the main black background of most of the plumage, there are various bright areas. The legs and eyes of these birds are painted in bright colors. There are toucans that are so colorful that they are in this respect not inferior to the brightest parrots. Toucans are hardly noticeable among forest greenery, especially when they sit quietly in the crowns of trees after feeding: you might think that a large bright butterfly peeps out of the foliage. The tail of toucans, as a rule, is short, straight cut, consists of 10 tail feathers. In some species, it is rather long and stepped, that is, the outer tail feathers are the shortest, the following are longer, etc., and the middle pair of tail feathers is the longest. The short and wide wings have 11 primary flight feathers. The legs are strong and large, four-toed, adapted for climbing trees.

(Ramphastos toco)

Ramphastidae Vigors, 1825

Tucan (lat.Ramphastidae) - a family of birds of the order woodpecker. Toucans have a disproportionately large, laterally compressed, brightly colored beak. However, the beak itself, despite its size, is relatively light due to its porous structure. Most major representatives detachment of woodpeckers. There are 37 species of birds, grouped into 6 genera.

Toucans inhabit the lowland and mountain (up to 3000 m) tropical forests of America from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. They nest in natural or woodpecker hollows.

These birds got their name due to the fact that representatives of one of their species shout something like "tokano!"

Description [ | ]

A noisy bird living in the rainforest. It is easily recognizable by its huge and very light yellow beak, the length of which reaches almost half the length of the body. This bird does not know how to fly well and far, therefore it spends most of its time in hollow trees. Notable for its appearance. The first thing that catches your eye is the disproportionately large, brightly colored beak. The large beak does not cause any inconvenience to the bird: it is very light due to the presence of pneumatic cavities in it. The inside of the beak is made of porous, foamy bone tissue, the outside is made of keratin. The beak is abundantly supplied with blood vessels, since it plays an important role in the thermoregulation of toucans. The beak of toucanites is very different from that of adult birds. In chicks, it is flat, and the lower jaw is somewhat longer and wider than the upper one; this facilitates the grasping of feed thrown by adult birds. The tongue of toucans is long, its front part and edges are fringed, which gives it a feathery appearance. The skin around the corners of the mouth and around the eyes is not feathery and brightly colored. Contrasting color of plumage. Usually, on the main black background of most of the plumage, there are various bright areas. The legs and eyes of these birds are painted in bright colors. There are toucans, colored so brightly that in this respect they are not inferior to the brightest parrots. Toucans are hardly noticeable among forest greenery, especially when they sit quietly in the crowns of trees after feeding: you might think that a large bright butterfly peeps out of the foliage. The tail of toucans, as a rule, is short, straight cut, consists of 10 tail feathers. In some species, it is rather long and stepped, that is, the outer tail feathers are the shortest, the next ones are longer, etc., and the middle pair of tail feathers is the longest. Short and wide wings each have 11 primary flight feathers. The legs are strong and large, four-toed, adapted for climbing trees.

Because of their awkward large body and huge beak, toucans fly quite hard. Having taken off, the bird gains altitude, and then glides into the right directiondescribing wide circles in the air. These birds avoid flights over long distances. All the time toucans spend in the crowns of large trees, where they feed on fruits. Birds are curious, they chase together birds of prey and gather in large flocks, trying to help a fellow wounded or captured by a predator.

Reproduction [ | ]

Toucans are monogamous birds. They nest in tree hollows. Clutch consists of 1-4 shiny white eggs equally rounded at both ends. Both parents incubate the clutch. In small species, incubation lasts 2 weeks, in large species a little longer. Chicks hatch completely helpless, naked and blind. They stay in the hollow for 6 to 8 weeks.

Food [ | ]

By the nature of food, toucan are herbivorous birds that feed almost exclusively on juicy fruits (for example, bananas) and berries. The notches on the beak help the bird to hold and open the fruit. However, they can also eat spiders, some invertebrates, occasionally lizards and even small snakes. Sometimes they drag chicks and eggs from the nests of other birds.

Sound communication of birds[ | ]

Relationship with the local population[ | ]

The locals hunt them intensively because of the delicious meat that is commonly eaten. The beautiful feathers of these birds, as well as the orange skin with small plumage, removed from the chest in many species, are used as decoration.

A noisy bird living in the rainforest. It is easily recognizable by its huge and very light yellow beak, the length of which reaches almost half the length of the body. This bird does not know how to fly well and far, therefore it spends most of its time in hollow trees. Notable for their appearance. The first thing that catches your eye is the disproportionately large, brightly colored beak. Its length is almost equal to the length of the bird's body. The large beak does not cause any inconvenience to the bird: it is very light due to the presence of pneumatic cavities in it.

The tongue of toucans is long, its front part and edges are fringed, which gives it a feathery appearance. The skin around the corners of the mouth and around the eyes is not feathery and brightly colored. Contrasting color of plumage. Usually, on the main black background of most of the plumage, there are various bright areas. The legs and eyes of these birds are painted in bright colors. There are toucans that are so colorful that they are in this respect not inferior to the brightest parrots. Toucans are hardly noticeable among forest greenery, especially when they sit quietly in the crowns of trees after feeding: you might think that a large bright butterfly is peeping out of the foliage.

The tail of toucans, as a rule, is short, straight cut, consists of 10 tail feathers. In some species, it is rather long and stepped, that is, the outer tail feathers are the shortest, the next ones are longer, etc., and the middle pair of tail feathers is the longest. The short and wide wings have 11 primary flight feathers. The legs are strong and large, four-toed, adapted for climbing trees.

Because of their awkward large body and huge beak, toucans fly quite hard. Having taken off, the bird gains altitude, and then plans in the right direction, describing wide circles in the air. These birds avoid flights over long distances. All the time toucans spend in the crowns of large trees, where they feed on fruits. The birds are curious, they chase birds of prey together and gather in large flocks, trying to help a fellow wounded or captured by a predator.