White-throated toucan

The white-throated toucan (Maeve) is a near-passerine bird in the family Ramphastidae found in South America throughout the Amazon Basin including the adjacent Tocantins and Araguaia River drainage. It prefers tropical humid forest, but also occurs in woodland and locally in riverine forest within cerrado.

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Distribution

Region

Amazon Basin and the Guianas

Typical Environment

Occurs widely across the Amazon Basin, including Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, and the Guianas. It inhabits humid lowland rainforest, both terra firme and seasonally flooded várzea, and frequents forest edges and secondary growth. Locally it extends into woodland mosaics and riverine forests along the Tocantins and Araguaia drainages, even into patches within the cerrado. Often ranges along rivers and gallery forests where fruiting trees are plentiful.

Altitude Range

Sea level to 1000 m

Climate Zone

Tropical

Characteristics

Size53–61 cm

Wing Span90–100 cm

Male Weight0.65 kg

Female Weight0.55 kg

Life Expectancy15 years

Ease of Keeping

Beginner friendly: 2/5

Useful to know

This large toucan is a key seed disperser in Amazonian forests, helping regenerate canopy trees over long distances. Its oversized bill is lightweight and aids in both foraging and thermoregulation. Pairs often engage in gentle bill-fencing and fruit-tossing displays. Its loud, far-carrying yelps are a signature sound of intact lowland rainforest.

Gallery

At first this may resemble a Cuvier's toucan, R. t. cuvieri, but a closer look reveals a brownish patch on the upper part of the mandible, identifying it as a tucanus-cuvieri intergrade.

Red-billed toucanRamphastos t. tucanus

Red-billed toucan in captivity

Behaviour

Temperament

social and active

Flight Pattern

short rapid wingbeats with brief glides

Social Behavior

Usually seen in pairs or small, loosely knit groups moving through the mid to upper canopy. Nests in natural cavities or old woodpecker holes; both sexes share incubation and chick-rearing. Pairs engage in mutual preening and toss fruit to each other during courtship.

Migratory Pattern

Resident

Song Description

Vocalizations are loud, far-carrying yelps and croaking calls, often delivered in rhythmic series. Calls can sound frog-like and are used for contact between mates and to advertise territory at dawn and dusk.

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Identification

Comb Type

Plumage Description

Feather Color

Leg Color

Earlobe Color

Eye Color

Feeding Habits

Diet

Preferred Environment

Requires Supplement

Population

Conservation Status

Species Status

Wild Population

Total Known Population

White-throated treecreeper

The white-throated treecreeper is an Australian treecreeper found in the forests of eastern Australia. It is also called Dilmun in the Gathang language of the Worimi people, who reside in eastern Port Stephens and Great Lakes regions of coastal New South Wales, Australia. The Dilmun is the totem of Worimi women. It is unrelated to the northern hemisphere treecreepers. It is a small passerine bird with predominantly brown and white plumage and measuring some 15 cm (6 in) long on average. It is insectivorous, eating mainly ants. Unlike treecreepers of the genus Climacteris, the white-throated treecreeper does not engage in cooperative breeding, and wherever it overlaps with species of that genus, it feeds upon much looser bark besides typically using different trees.

White-throated treerunner

The white-throated treerunner is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is the only species in the genus Pygarrhichas. The white-throated treerunner is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long, with a stiff and rounded tail. The upperparts are dark brown, turning red on the lower back and tail and contrasting sharply with the throat and chest of a bright white. The rest of the underparts are coarsely mottled with white. The bill is long, slightly curved upwards. The general appearance is reminiscent of a nuthatch, although they are not directly related. Like the Sittidae, Furnariidae tirelessly scours the trunks and branches of old trees for the small arthropods that make up its food, spiraling up the trunks, or sometimes moving head down. The white-throated treerunner consumes small invertebrates found on bark and nests in tree cavities. Outside of the breeding season, it may form mixed-species foraging flocks with other bird species.