Upon finding a ripe fruit, the toucan snips it free with the tips of its mandibles, tosses it into the air, then tilts back its head and catches and swallows its prize whole. Toucans regurgitate larger seeds, sometimes lining their nest cavities with them. Smaller seeds and pits pass through the birds' digestive systems, exiting in their droppings. In this way, Keel-billed Toucans and other fruit-eating birds, such as the Bearded Bellbird and Hooded Berryeater , help to spread seeds and so maintain the forests they depend upon.
Sign up for ABC's eNews to learn how you can help protect birds. Keel-billed Toucan foraging. The Keel-billed Toucan is a social species, seen in canopy-foraging flocks of six to 22 individuals.
The birds roost and nest in natural or woodpecker-created tree cavities. Several toucans often share the same small space, fitting inside by tucking their bills beneath their wings and their tails over their backs. Not the most gifted aerial acrobats, Keel-billed Toucans move about the forest canopy by hopping from branch to branch. Despite these bouncy maneuvers, they are often hard to spot as they warily feed among the foliage.
In flight, they labor along on broad, heavy wings, their big bills thrust straight forward. One bird guide described a Keel-billed Toucan in flight as resembling a bird "pushing a banana. This toucan, like the Common Raven , engages in a variety of playful behaviors. Some seem to "play ball" by tossing and catching a piece of fruit back and forth.
Birds grab each other's bills to wrestle, or fence with their bills, probably to establish hierarchy within their group. Courting pairs will offer each other fruit, similar to a ritual performed by the Cedar Waxwing.
Although the Keel-billed Toucan remains fairly common in much of its range, habitat loss poses a persistent threat to many populations. Also, this bird is captured for the pet trade and is sometimes still hunted for its meat and colorful feathers.
ABC's reserve network includes several areas where this bird is protected and can be observed. Another reserve that shelters the Keel-billed Toucan is El Jaguar in Nicaragua, which also provides a winter home for migrants such as the Golden-winged Warbler and a migration stopover for the Olive-sided Flycatcher and other species.
Donate to support ABC's conservation mission! Account navigation Account navigation Introduction. Revision History. Originally Appeared in. Neotropical Birds logo.
Subscribe Now For Access Unlock thousands of full-length species accounts and hundreds of bird family overviews when you subscribe to Birds of the World. Every bird has a story.
Discover them all with Birds of the World. Subscribe Now Already a subscriber? Sign in. Diet Omnivore. Serial monogamy. Population Trend. Least concern LC. Population Population threats Keel-billed toucans are widespread and are not endangered at present. The bill of toucans seems large and cumbersome but it is in fact a spongy, hollow bone covered in keratin, a very light and hard protein. Keel-billed toucans have zygodactyl feet or feet with toes facing in different directions - two toes face forward and two face back.
Because toucans spend a large portion of time in the trees, this helps them to stay on the branches of the trees and jump from one branch to another. The bill of the Keel-billed toucan is surprisingly dexterous and allows the bird to utilize a large variety of fruit that might not otherwise be reached.
When eating the fruit, the toucan uses its bill to dissect the fruit and then tosses its head back to swallow the fruit whole. When Keel-billed toucans roost in tree holes with several other toucans this can be very cramped, so the birds tuck their tails and beaks under their bodies to conserve space while sleeping. Adding to the lack of space, the bottoms of the holes where toucans sleep are often covered with pits from the fruit the birds have eaten.
References 1. Included in Lists Birds of Venezuela. Birds of Costa Rica. Birds of Guatemala. Birds of Belize. Related Animals Northern Flicker. Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. Toco Toucan. Acorn Woodpecker. Gila Woodpecker. Red-Bellied Woodpecker. Red-Cockaded Woodpecker. Red-Headed Woodpecker.
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