Toucans, Toucanets and Aracaris

I love toucans, but there is something unreal about the Emerald Toucanet. Toucans are always brilliantly colored, but the emerald toucanet is a brilliant green — such an ethereal color for such a large bird.

The emerald toucanet above, which I photographed in Panama while with a group of birders, is also called a Blue-throated Toucanet. Look at its throat. If you would see the same species in Mexico, for example, you wouldn't see the blue throat.

Blue-throated toucanets, then, are a subspecies of Emerald Toucanets. But, ornithologists currently recognize seven different, and distinct, subspecies of the Emerald Toucanet, and they all have great names in their own right — our Blue-throated, the Wagler's, the Emerald subspecies, the Violet-throated, the Santa Marta, the Andean and the Peruvian.

While I love toucans, this guy in particular is a good lesson in the future of ornithology. Right now, science recognizes about 10,000 species of birds. But as we learn more about biology, DNA and genetics, we get a better glimpse into whether certain animals should be categorized as sub-species, or their own species.

Many believe that within the next quarter-century, the amount of bird species known to science will jump from ten thousand to perhaps as high as 25,000. The reason has nothing to do with more discoveries — although new bird discoveries still do happen. It's about more refined biology being used to reclassify birds.

For the birders who are walking with me, seeing this Blue-throated Toucanet could end up having a profound impact on their hobby in the future. Let's say they've seen the Emerald Toucanet in Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Mexico and now Panama. If biologists decided to split the bird into seven species, these birders' total species tally will increase.

In ornithology, there is a reverse side to 'splitting.' It's called 'lumping.' In taxonomy, there are lumpers and splitters; and both sides have valid arguments about whether certain species need to be split, or certain species need to be reclassified as a single species. In the world of ornithology, both are happening constantly, and following the conversation is a nice way of peering into the future of taxonomy.

Since I first wrote this, the splitters have partly won. The American Ornithological Society now divides the old Emerald Toucanet into two species: the Northern Emerald Toucanet of Mexico and Central America, which includes our Blue-throated birds in Panama, and the Southern Emerald Toucanet of the Andes. BirdLife International goes further and recognizes all seven forms as full species. So depending on whose checklist you keep, the bird in my photograph is one species, one of two, or one of seven. I’ve written more about how splits and lumps change the birding count in How Many Birds Are in North America.

What Makes a Toucan

Toucans belong to the family Ramphastidae, and they live only in the American tropics, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Their closest relatives are the barbets, and more distantly the woodpeckers, which explains a lot: like woodpeckers, toucans nest in tree cavities, and they have zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward and two back, built for gripping branches.

The family is split into five groups. The big Ramphastos toucans are the ones on cereal boxes. The aracaris, genus Pteroglossus, are slender, long-tailed and social. The mostly green Aulacorhynchus toucanets live in cloud forests and mountains. The Selenidera toucanets are small lowland birds in which males and females look different. And the mountain-toucans, Andigena, live high in the Andes in shades of powder blue and grey.

The common names don’t follow the science very closely. “Toucanet” just means a small toucan, and the Saffron Toucanet of Brazil turns out to be an aracari. The names came from what birds looked like to the people who named them. The genera came later, from anatomy and DNA.

The Bill

A toucan’s bill looks heavy, but it is mostly air. The outside is a thin sheath of keratin, the same stuff as our fingernails, over an inner foam of bone struts and membranes. In the Toco Toucan the bill makes up about a third of the bird’s length, yet it weighs very little.

For a long time, nobody could quite explain why toucans needed such an enormous bill. It helps them reach fruit at the tips of branches too thin to hold their weight, and it may help them intimidate other birds when they raid nests. In 2009, researchers using thermal cameras found another answer: the Toco Toucan uses its bill as a radiator. Blood vessels in the bill open up to shed heat on hot days and close down to conserve it at night. The bill turns out to be one of the largest heat-exchange organs, relative to body size, of any animal.

The edges of the bill are serrated, which helps a toucan grip slippery fruit. Once it has a berry, it tosses its head back and flips the fruit into its throat, because its narrow, feather-like tongue can’t do much to move food around.

Life in the Canopy

Toucans are mostly fruit eaters, and that makes them some of the most important seed dispersers in the Neotropics. They swallow fruit whole and carry the seeds far from the parent tree. But they are not strict vegetarians. Given the chance, toucans and aracaris eat insects, lizards, eggs and nestlings, which is why small birds mob them when they come through.

They nest in tree cavities, usually old woodpecker holes or natural hollows, since their bills are not built for serious excavation. Aracaris are especially social. A group of five or six may sleep in the same cavity, each bird turning its head to lay its bill along its back and folding its tail up over the top, so the whole flock packs into a hole like a set of folded umbrellas.

Most toucans are still common, but not all. Deforestation is the biggest threat, especially in the cloud forests of the Andes and Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, and toucans have long been caught for the pet trade. The Yellow-browed Toucanet of northern Peru has one of the smallest ranges of any toucan, and the Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan is listed as near threatened.

Every Toucan in the World

There are roughly forty species of toucans, depending on whose taxonomy you follow. The list below follows the International Ornithological Committee, with notes where other authorities split or lump differently. Where I have my own photographs, I’ve included them.

The Green Toucanets

Aulacorhynchus

These are the toucans of cloud forests and mountain slopes, mostly green, which makes them surprisingly hard to spot in the canopy. Most live in the Andes or in the mountains of Central America and Venezuela.

Northern Emerald Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus prasinus

The Emerald Toucanet is a small but dazzling member of the toucan family, shimmering in shades of green that blend perfectly into the forest canopy. Its many subspecies, like the Blue-throated form, make it a fascinating example of ornithology's ongoing debates about splitting and lumping species. This is the northern species, found from Mexico to Panama and the far northwest of Colombia.

Southern Emerald Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus albivitta

The Andean counterpart of the Northern Emerald Toucanet, found from Venezuela and Colombia south to Peru. Its forms have white, grey or black throats, and the isolated Santa Marta population is sometimes treated as its own species.

Groove-billed Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus sulcatus

A green toucanet of the coastal mountains of northern Venezuela, with a dark, grooved bill and a patch of blue skin around the eye.

Yellow-billed Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus calorhynchus

Closely related to the Groove-billed Toucanet, with a bright yellow upper bill. It lives in the mountains of northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.

Chestnut-tipped Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus derbianus

A foothill toucanet of the eastern Andes from Colombia to Bolivia, with a red rump and a dark bill tipped with chestnut.

Tepui Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus whitelianus

Split from the Chestnut-tipped Toucanet, this species lives on the isolated tepuis, the flat-topped mountains of southern Venezuela, Guyana and northern Brazil.

Crimson-rumped Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus haematopygus

A cloud forest bird of the northern Andes in Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, green with a deep red rump and a dark red bill.

Yellow-browed Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus huallagae

One of the rarest toucans in the world, known from a small stretch of montane forest in northern Peru. A yellow stripe over the eye sets it apart.

Blue-banded Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis

A toucanet of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia, with a blue band across its breast and a pale bill.

The Dichromatic Toucanets

Selenidera

Small toucans of lowland rainforest. In most species, males have black heads and underparts while females are chestnut or brown, an unusual difference in a family where the sexes usually look alike.

Yellow-eared Toucanet

Selenidera spectabilis

The only Selenidera in Central America, ranging from Honduras to northwestern Colombia. The male has a bright yellow tuft behind the eye.

Guianan Toucanet

Selenidera piperivora

A toucanet of the Guianas and northeastern Brazil, sometimes listed under its older name, Selenidera culik.

Golden-collared Toucanet

Selenidera reinwardtii

A western Amazonian species, found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil, with a golden collar across the back of the neck.

Tawny-tufted Toucanet

Selenidera nattereri

A little-known toucanet of the northern Amazon in Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil, with tawny ear tufts.

Gould’s Toucanet

Selenidera gouldii

Found in the southern Amazon of Brazil and Bolivia, named for the nineteenth-century bird illustrator John Gould.

Spot-billed Toucanet

Selenidera maculirostris

A toucanet of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, reaching into Paraguay and Argentina, with a pale bill marked with dark bars.

The Mountain-Toucans

Andigena

Four species of the high Andes, living in cold, wet cloud forest. They trade the lowland toucans’ bright yellows for soft blues and greys.

Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan

Andigena laminirostris

Found on the western slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador, with a raised yellowish plate on the side of the bill. It is listed as near threatened.

Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucan

Andigena hypoglauca

A mountain-toucan of the Andes from Colombia to Peru, with blue-grey underparts and a multicolored bill.

Hooded Mountain-Toucan

Andigena cucullata

A black-hooded mountain-toucan of the Andes of southern Peru and Bolivia.

Black-billed Mountain-Toucan

Andigena nigrirostris

Found in the Andes of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, with a dark bill and powder-blue underparts.

The Aracaris

Pteroglossus

Slender, long-tailed and social, aracaris travel through the forest in noisy family groups. The name comes from the Tupi language of Brazil.

Green Aracari

Pteroglossus viridis

The smallest aracari, found in the Guianas, southern Venezuela and northeastern Brazil.

Lettered Aracari

Pteroglossus inscriptus

Named for the fine dark marks on its bill, which look like handwriting. It lives across the Amazon and in eastern Brazil.

Red-necked Aracari

Pteroglossus bitorquatus

An aracari of the southern Amazon in Brazil and Bolivia, with a red band across the back of the neck.

Ivory-billed Aracari

Pteroglossus azara

A western Amazonian aracari with a pale, ivory-colored bill.

Brown-mandibled Aracari

Pteroglossus mariae

A close relative of the Ivory-billed Aracari, found in the southwestern Amazon of Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. Some authorities lump the two.

Black-necked Aracari

Pteroglossus aracari

Found in the Guianas, the eastern Amazon and Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. This is the species that gave the whole group its name.

Chestnut-eared Aracari

Pteroglossus castanotis

This small aracari is recognized by its chestnut-colored ear patch and multicolored bill. Widely distributed in South America, it is a social species often seen in groups moving noisily through the canopy.

Many-banded Aracari

Pteroglossus pluricinctus

An aracari of the northwestern Amazon, with two dark bands across its yellow belly instead of one.

Collared Aracari

Pteroglossus torquatus

The Collared Aracari is a slender, colorful member of the toucan family with a striking yellow belly crossed by a red band. It is common in Central American forests, where it travels in small flocks and roosts communally in tree cavities.

Stripe-billed Aracari

Pteroglossus sanguineus

An aracari of the humid Chocó forests of western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Some authorities treat it as a form of the Collared Aracari.

Pale-mandibled Aracari

Pteroglossus erythropygius

Found in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru, with a pale lower bill. It is sometimes lumped with the Collared Aracari as well.

Fiery-billed Aracari

Pteroglossus frantzii

The Fiery-billed Aracari is a brilliantly marked toucan of Costa Rica and western Panama, named for its flame-colored bill. Found in lowland forests, it often travels in small, noisy flocks as it feeds on fruit and insects.

Curl-crested Aracari

Pteroglossus beauharnaisii

Perhaps the strangest toucan of all. The feathers on its crown are glossy, flattened and curled, like shavings of black plastic. It lives in the southwestern Amazon.

Saffron Toucanet

Pteroglossus bailloni

Despite its name, this olive-and-saffron bird of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest is an aracari. It was long placed in its own genus, Baillonius.

The Big Toucans

Ramphastos

These are the classic toucans, big black birds with bold bibs and enormous bills. Many are easiest to find by voice, and the family is sometimes divided by call into “yelpers” and “croakers.”

Toco Toucan

Ramphastos toco

The largest toucan, with a huge orange bill, found in savannas, open woodland and the Pantanal of central and eastern South America. It is the species behind the 2009 bill-radiator discovery.

Keel-billed Toucan

Ramphastos sulfuratus

The rainbow-billed toucan of southern Mexico to northern Colombia and Venezuela, and the national bird of Belize.

Yellow-throated Toucan

Ramphastos ambiguus

Black-mandibled and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans are now treated as two forms of this one species: the black-mandibled birds in the Andes, the chestnut-mandibled ones from Honduras to Ecuador. Also called the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, this is one of the largest toucans in Central America. Its loud yelping calls echo through humid forests where it feeds mainly on fruit, but also takes small prey.

White-throated Toucan

Ramphastos tucanus

A big, yelping toucan of the Amazon Basin, including the red-billed form once called Cuvier’s Toucan.

Channel-billed Toucan

Ramphastos vitellinus

A croaking toucan of the Amazon, Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and Trinidad, with several forms that vary in bill and bib color.

Red-breasted Toucan

Ramphastos dicolorus

A toucan of the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, with a pale green bill and an orange-and-red breast.

Choco Toucan

Ramphastos brevis

A smaller look-alike of the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, found in the wet Chocó forests of western Colombia and Ecuador. The two are easiest to tell apart by voice.

Citron-throated Toucan

Ramphastos citreolaemus

A toucan of northern Colombia and western Venezuela with a lemon-yellow throat.