Toucans!

I had never been to the tropics. In fact, I had some reservations about traveling there. Finally, we decided to go.  For me, it was in part because Denise really wanted to, and… because I almost desperately desired to see a toucan!

These large arboreal Neotropical birds with their huge, oversized bills fascinated me and drew me to Costa Rica. Selecting a birding tour with a relaxed week at a nature lodge in the Caribbean foothills, I felt virtually assured of seeing one. 

Whenever I mentioned toucans, everyone referred to Toucan Sam in the Froot Loops commercials. Perhaps I missed something as a child, but I had neither eaten Froot Loops nor was I even familiar with their commercials. But I had seen photos of them for years, mainly from a friend’s multiple tropical sojourns, and they were at the very top of my wish list! 

The first hopeful sign was at the welcome dinner at the start of the tour near San Jose, when our birding tour leader assigned people to groups to assure egalitarian seating in the bus over the forthcoming adventure. Our group of was designated, the “Toucans”!

On our first morning at a lovely lodge at 3,200 feet in the Caribbean foothills and about two hours’ drive southeast of the capital of San Jose, we saw our first toucan: a Keel-billed, rather nonchalantly pointed out by a wonderful 91-year old fellow participant on a hike through a hillside pasture. A distant look, but hey, a toucan!!!  Farther up the hill was another Keel-billed, still far, but close enough to attempt a photo coupling a 500 mm lens with a 1.4 x teleconverter. Distant and grainy, but "proof of toucan." Yeah!

At the same place we were treated with a second species, a Collared Aracari (which I soon learned was pronounced “arasari,” not “arakari”). Smaller than the Keel-billed but at least as colorful, it too was (barely) within range for a "proof of toucan" image!

Later in the tour, on a long day trip to the Caribbean lowlands, we would add yet a third species, the large Yellow-throated Toucan! It was in the dense tropical rain forest at a place called Centro Manu. This location also provided a somewhat closer view of a Keel-billed, and a chance to compare the two large species.

That afternoon, still in the Caribbean lowlands, at an artist’s feeders, we were amazed to see both Collared Aracaris and Yellow-throated Toucans at such close range that even by backing up as far as I could, it was difficult to fit the entire toucan in the frame!

There are 36 species of toucans, all in the Neotropics, from Mexico through Central America to northern South America (Ebird; Birds of the World, Cornell Lab of Ornithology). They are in the family Ramphastidae, within the order Piciformes along with woodpeckers, honeyguides, and several families of barbets. Within the toucan family are five genera, listed below:

Aulacorhynchus: 8 species of “toucanets”

Ramphastos: 7 species of “toucans”

Andigena: 4 species of “mountain-toucans”

Pteroglossus: 10 species of “aracaris” and Saffron Toucanet

Selenidera: 6 species of “toucanets.”

Their bills are as functionally fascinating as they are beautiful. Serrated, toucans use them to reach bananas and other fruit that competitors might not access. Mainly frugivorous, toucans will also grab large insects and other arthropods, and even the eggs and nestlings of other birds.  Toucans can't swallow directly from their bill tips, but toss the food up and into the back of their throats to get it down.

Not just for eating, toucans’ bills are also used for thermoregulation, primarily cooling from the intense tropical heat. Lightweight and thin, composed of keratin (like our fingernails) and supported by bony rods, these giant showy beaks have blood vessels close to the surface to dissipate heat.  Toucans can control the flow of blood to their bills to either lose or retain heat as needed.

Toucans nest in natural cavities, generally ones excavated by woodpeckers but rarely do they make their own by clearing out rotted wood.

Sadly, like other Neotropical forest birds, toucans face habitat destruction; they are also hunted and trapped for food, traditional medicine, and the pet trade. The cohesiveness of toucan family groups renders them particularly vulnerable to hunting. Roughly one quarter of toucan species are of conservation concern.

I returned home, satisfied with sightings and images of toucans, but inspired to return to the tropics to see additional species of this fascinating family of birds!

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