Chestnut-mandibled Toucan

by Teresa Zieba

Title

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan

Artist

Teresa Zieba

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Photographed in Costa Rica, December 2013.

The Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, or Swainson￿s Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus swainsonii) is a near-passerine bird which breeds from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia to western Ecuador. This subspecies is replaced from southern Colombia to eastern Peru by the nominate subspecies Black-mandibled Toucan, R. ambiguus ambiguus.
The scientific and alternative English names commemorate the English ornithologist and artist William Swainson.
Like other toucans, the Chestnut-mandibled is brightly marked and has a large bill. The male is 56 cm long, while the smaller female is typically 52 cm long. Weight ranges from 599 to 746 grams (1.3-1.6 lbs).

The sexes are alike in appearance, mainly black with maroon hints to the head, upper back and lower breast. The face and upper breast are bright yellow, with narrow white and broader red lines forming a lower border. The upper tail is white and the lower abdomen is red. The legs are blue. The body plumage is similar to that of the smaller Keel-billed Toucan, but the bill pattern is quite different, being diagonally divided into bright yellow and maroon.

Juvenile birds are sooty-black, and have duller plumage, particularly with respect to the bib, red border, and lower mandible. They are fed by the parents for several weeks after leaving the nest.

The call of the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan is a yelping yo-YIP, a-yip, a-yip, or a Dios te d￿Dios te d￿Spanish for "God give you..."). It is given to maintain contact as the flock travels in "follow-my-leader" style through the trees, but also in chorus at the evening roosts.

The Chestnut-mandibled Toucan is a resident breeder in moist lowland forest. The 2-4 white eggs are laid in an unlined cavity high in a decayed section of a living tree, or occasionally in an old woodpecker nest in a dead tree.

Both sexes incubate the eggs for at 14￿15 days, and the toucan chicks remain in the nest after hatching. They are blind and naked at birth, and have short bills and specialised pads on their heels to protect them from the rough floor of the nest. They are fed by both parents, and fledge after about 6 weeks.

Uploaded

December 26th, 2013

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