Toucans | Ramphastidae

Toekans | Tucanes

Toucans are a family of tropical Central and South America within the woodpeckers and allies, known for their very large, often brightly coloured bill. That bill is lighter than it looks: beneath a thin horny sheath lies a network of fine bony struts with much air between them, and blood flow through the bill also helps to shed body heat. Like woodpeckers, toucans have a zygodactyl foot. In the region only the Channel-billed Toucan occurs, on Trinidad and not on Tobago or the other islands; it is a large, mainly black toucan with a yellow throat and breast, red undertail coverts and a black bill with a blue base. It lives in the forest canopy, eats mainly fruit and supplements this with insects and the eggs and nestlings of other birds. The voice is a hoarse, far-carrying, croaking call. Nesting is in a tree hole, and when sleeping the bird folds its tail over its back.