Birds · Piciformes · Ramphastidae

Red-breasted Toucan

Ramphastos dicolorus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The red-breasted toucan is a medium-sized toucan of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and neighbouring parts of Argentina and Paraguay, with a yellow throat, a red band across the breast and a yellowish green bill with a red tip. It feeds on fruit, which it swallows whole and whose seeds it disperses, and it also raids other birds' nests. It is one of the few toucans to have withstood the fragmentation of the Atlantic Forest well.

Weight

300 g – 430 g

Size

40 cm – 48 cm

Lifespan

20 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

RainforestTemperate forestOmnivore Diurnal Bird Rainforest Temperate forest

11countries 8parks5same family

Fun facts

A toucan's bill, for all its size, weighs very little: it is hollow inside and reinforced by a network of bony struts, a structure engineers have studied as a model for lightweight, strong materials.
That bill also works as a radiator: toucans regulate their body temperature by sending more or less blood through it, and can shed a significant part of their heat through it within minutes.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Atlantic Forest, araucaria forest and secondary woodland of south-eastern South America
Sexual maturity: 2 years
Gestation / incubation: 18 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 3 eggs

Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/