Toucan
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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Ramphastidae

[Photo] Portrait of a Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus), photographed in Mexico. Date 6.10.2007. Author Bjørn Christian Tørrissen (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Uspn).

Copyright (C) 2007 Bjørn Christian Tørrissen Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

Toucans are near passerine birds from the neotropics. They are brightly marked and have large, colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species.

Toucans range in size from the Lettered Aracari (Pteroglossus inscriptus), at 130 g (4.6 oz) and 29 cm (11.5 inches), to the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco), at 680 g (1.5 lb) and 63 cm (25 inches). Their bodies are short (of comparable size to a crow's) and thick. The tail is rounded, and varies in length from half the length to the whole length of the body. The neck is short and thick, and at the base of the head is a huge, brightly-colored beak that measures, in some large species, more than half the length of the body. A toucan's tongue is long, narrow, grey, and singularly frayed on each side, adding to its sensitivity as an organ of taste.

The legs of a toucan are strong and rather short. Their toes are arranged in pairs with the first and fourth toes turned backward. Males and females are the same color. The feathers in the genus containing the largest toucans are generally black, with touches of white, yellow, and scarlet. The underparts of the ara??aris (smaller toucans) are yellow, crossed by one or more black or red bands, and the edges of the beak are saw-toothed. The toucanets have mostly green plumage with blue markings.

Toucans are frugivorous (fruit-eating), but will take prey such as insects and small lizards. However, the function of the beak in feeding is not known, since many other birds consume these foods without the giant bill to help them. One likely use is to specialize on prey such as nestlings and bats in treeholes. In this view, the beak allows the bird to reach deep into the treehole to access food unavailable to other birds.

They are arboreal and nest in tree holes laying 2???4 white eggs. The young hatch completely naked, without any down. Toucans are resident breeders and do not migrate. Toucans are usually found in pairs or small flocks.

The name of this bird group is derived from Tupi tucana, via French.

Systematic list

Genus Aulacorhynchus - green toucanets (6-13 species, depending on taxonomy)
Blue-banded Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis)
Chestnut-tipped Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus derbianus)
Crimson-rumped Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus haematopygus)
Yellow-browed Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus huallagae)
Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus)
Wagler's Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus (prasinus) wagleri)
Blue-throated Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus (prasinus) caeruleogularis)
Violet-throated or Nelson's Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus (prasinus) cognatus)
Santa Marta Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus (prasinus) lautus)
(North) Andean Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus (prasinus) albivitta)
Black-throated or Peruvian Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus (prasinus) atrogularis)
Groove-billed Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus sulcatus)
Yellow-billed Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus (sulcatus) calorhynchus)

Genus Selenidera - dichromatic toucanets
Guianan Toucanet, Selenidera culik
Tawny-tufted Toucanet, Selenidera nattereri
Gold-collared Toucanet, Selenidera reinwardtii
Langsdorff's Toucanet or Green-billed Toucanet, Selenidera (reinwardtii) langsdorffii
Gould's Toucanet, Selenidera gouldii - sometimes included in S. maculirostris
Spot-billed Toucanet, Selenidera maculirostris
Yellow-eared Toucanet, Selenidera spectabilis

Genus Andigena - mountain-toucans
Grey-breasted Mountain-toucan Andigena hypoglauca
Hooded Mountain-toucan, Andigena cucullata
Plate-billed Mountain-toucan, Andigena laminirostris
Black-billed Mountain-toucan, Andigena nigrirostris

Genus Pteroglossus - aracaris (14 species, incl. Saffron Toucanet)
Lettered Aracari, Pteroglossus inscriptus
Green Aracari, Pteroglossus viridis
Red-necked Aracari, Pteroglossus bitorquatus
Ivory-billed Aracari, Pteroglossus azara
Brown-mandibled Aracari, Pteroglossus mariae
Chestnut-eared Aracari, Pteroglossus castanotis
Black-necked Aracari, Pteroglossus aracari
Collared Aracari, Pteroglossus torquatus
Fiery-billed Aracari, Pteroglossus frantzii
Stripe-billed Aracari, Pteroglossus sanguineus
Pale-mandibled Aracari, Pteroglossus erythropygius
Many-banded Aracari, Pteroglossus pluricinctus
Curl-crested Aracari, Pteroglossus beauharnaesii
Saffron Toucanet, Pteroglossus bailloni

Genus Ramphastos - typical toucans (about 10 species)
Keel-billed Toucan, Ramphastos sulfuratus
Choco Toucan, Ramphastos brevis
Channel-billed Toucan, Ramphastos vitellinus
Citron-throated Toucan, Ramphastos (vitellinus) citreolaemus.
Ariel Toucan, Ramphastos (vitellinus) ariel
Yellow-ridged Toucan, Ramphastos (vitellinus/ariel) culminatus
Red-breasted Toucan, Ramphastos dicolorus
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Ramphastos swainsonii
Black-mandibled Toucan, Ramphastos ambiguus
White-throated Toucan, Ramphastos tucanus
Red-billed Toucan, Ramphastos (tucanus) tucanus
Cuvier's Toucan, Ramphastos (tucanus) cuvieri
Toco Toucan, Ramphastos toco

Toucans in fiction
Toucan Sam, mascot of Froot Loops cereal.
Tookie Tookie, George's pet Toucan from George of the Jungle.
A humorous derivation of the name of the bird features in David McKee's children's book "Two Can Toucan".
Se??or Tuc??n, the Spanish-speaking toucan from the American cartoon Dora the Explorer.
Wulffmorgenthaler comic strip features a character named 'Toucan kid', who is an offspring of a human and a toucan.
The character Lupe Toucan from My Gym Partner's a Monkey
The character Poco from the American cartoon Maya and Miguel.
In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the Wizzrobe, a magician-like monster that dates back to the first game for the NES, highly resembles a slightly anthropomorphic toucan, possessing the brightly colored beak, and wing-like sleeves on its robe.
A joke in the Emperor's New School. "If you can speak toucan, can you also speak threecan and fourcan?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toucan

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