Bird

CLASS: Aves
ORDER: Piciformes
FAMILY: Ramphastidae

SIZE:
12 - 24 inches

RANGE:
Mexico to Argentina

HABITAT:
Exclusively neo-tropical forest regions

DIET:
Wild - Berries, seeds, other small fruits; occasionally eats insects, spiders, small lizards, eggs, and nestlings of other small birds

Zoo - Fruits, soft-bill diet, dry dog food

DESCRIPTION:

• Body primarily black; whitish throat; brightly colored blue eye is surrounded by yellow colored bare skin
• Bill is enormous; long and bulky, colored with vivid and contrasting hues of yellow, orange, black and white; bill has strong, horny outer shell surrounding a network on bony supporting filaments. It is much like a honeycomb structure -- lightweight and filled with air cells; has a saw-toothed edge.
• Long, stiff narrow tongue which is flattened horizontally
• Wings short and rounded

FACTS:

• Legs are quite strong; Birds can perch further inward while reaching fruit on slender tips of branches; Bill is efficient gathering tool
• Not particularly good flyers; heavy and clumsy; flight pattern is uneven with sudden twists and turns
• Large brightly colored bill serves to help the bird appear intimidating when it preys on the nests of other small birds; it is unknown whether the bill plays a part in courtship; they hold fruit or berries with the tip of the beak and with an upward toss of its head, flicks back into its throat.
• Noisy birds; live in bands of about a dozen; vocal powers are poor, not melodious; most of them give out a harsh, monotonous call that resembles frogs croaking; clack bills often
• Sleep with tail folded over back to economize space better and protect tail feathers
• They bathe using water that has collected in tree hollows or in the corollas of large flowers
• Arboreal birds -- never come to the ground
• Always on the move, chattering incessantly as they hop acrobatically among the highest branches

YOUNG:

• Take advantage of any kind of cavity
• One hole is not necessarily the property of a single bird, but may house 4-6 toucans.
• 2-4 eggs laid; incubation periods 43-46 days

REFERENCE:
"World of Wildlife: Animals of South American", Orbis Publishing