Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Frank Fragano, Arne Lesterhuis and José Luis Cartes and is used with permission.
TOCO TOUCAN Ramphastos toco
The stereotypical "Guinness" toucan, the Toco is the biggest member of its family. It is more an open-country bird than most of its relatives, preferring savanna with scattered trees rather than dense forest. The long bill looks heavy, but is actually exceedingly light. The Toucans are able to use it to delicately snip foodstuffs, flicking the head back to swallow the item with a gulp. It may be that the long bill helps them to reach fruits on branches that would otherwise not bear the weight of the bird.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE2873PH) Adult dorsal view, location unknown (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE2874PH) Adult dorsal view, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith September 2006).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE2875PH) Adult ventral, Zoologico Juan XXIII, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith June 2007).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE2876PH) Adult in flight, location unknown (José Luis Cartes undated).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE3904PH) Adult ventral, location unknown (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
VIDEO A - (FPAVE2877VI) Adult, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith September 2006).
VIDEO B - (FPAVE2878VI) Adult, near Toro Pampa, Departamento Alto Paraguay (Paul Smith August 2011).
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