Guianan Toucanet

Overview

The Guianan toucanet, or Guyana toucanet, is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its large range and stable population.

Identification

• A 33 to 35 cm long bird with bare blue skin around the eye and a tuft of yellow feathers behind it.
• Males feature a black crown, nape, throat, breast, and belly, with a gold 'collar' on the upper back, green upperparts, and a green tail with chestnut tips.
• Females have a black cap, chestnut nape and upper back, and gray to green-gray underparts with a green-yellow belly.
• The bill is mostly black with red bases, featuring a yellowish line at the base, and is shorter in females.
• Song consists of a slow series of guttural, frog-like 'arrouk' notes, while basic calls include a rattle joined with a rising, rooster-like squawk.

Habitat

Found from southeastern Venezuela east through the Guianas into northern Brazil and south to the Amazon River. It inhabits moist forest, including gallery forest in savannas, and favours primary forest over selectively logged areas. It usually occurs up to 600 m in elevation but can be found as high as 900 m in Venezuela and Suriname.

Diet

The diet is mostly fruit, with insects also taken. It usually forages in pairs or small groups, typically from the forest's mid-level to the sub-canopy. There is some evidence of coevolution with the Oenocarpus bacaba palm.

Did you know?

Males court females by feeding them, and the species nests in woodpecker holes, sometimes evicting the original maker.