Toco Toucan. Photographed at Setor Policial Sul, in Brasília, Brazil.
A text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) is the largest and arguably best known species in the toucan family. It is found in semi-open habitats throughout a large part of central and eastern South America. It is a common attraction in zoos.
Description:
The Toco Toucan has a striking plumage with a mainly black body, a white throat, chest and uppertail-coverts, and red undertail-coverts. What appears to be a blue iris is actually thin blue skin around the eye. This blue skin is surrounded by another ring of bare, orange skin. The most noticeable feature, however, is its huge bill, which is yellow-orange, tending to deeper reddish-orange on its lower sections and culmen, and with a black base and large spot on the tip. It looks heavy, but as in other toucans it is relatively light because the inside largely is hollow. The tongue is nearly as long as the bill and very flat. With a total length of 55–65 cm (22–26 in), incl. a bill that measures almost 20 cm (8 in), and a weight of 500–860 g (17.5-30 oz), it is the largest species of toucan and the largest representative of the order Piciformes.[2] Males are larger than females, but otherwise both are alike. Juveniles are duller and shorter-billed than adults. Its voice consists of a deep, coarse croaking, often repeated every few seconds. It also has a rattling call and will bill-clack.
Distribution:
it occurs in northern and eastern Bolivia, extreme south-eastern Peru, northern Argentina, eastern and central Paraguay, eastern and southern Brazil (excluding southern Rio Grande do Sul, the dry regions dominated by Caatinga vegetation and coastal regions between Ceará and Rio de Janeiro). Other disjunct populations occur along the lower Amazon River (Ilha de Marajó west approximately to the Madeira River), far northern Brazil in Roraima, and coastal regions of the Guianas. It only penetrates the Amazon in relatively open areas (e.g. along river corridors). It is resident, but local movements may occur.
Habitat and status:
It is, unlike the other members of the genus Ramphastos, essentially a non-forest species. It can be found in a wide range of semi-open habitats such as woodland, savanna and other open habitats with scattered trees, Cerrado, plantations, forest-edge, and even wooded gardens. It is mainly a species of lowlands, but occurs up to 1750 m (5750 ft) near the Andes in Bolivia. Because it prefers open habitats it is likely to benefit from the widespread deforestation in tropical South America. It has a large range and except in the outer regions of its range, it typically is fairly common. It is therefore considered to be of Least Concern by BirdLife International. It is easily seen in the Pantanal.
Behavior:
The Toco Toucan eats fruit (e.g. figs and Passiflora edulis) using its bill to pluck them from trees, but also insects, frogs, small reptiles and nestlings, and eggs of birds. It also has been known to capture and eat small adult birds in captivity. The long bill is useful for reaching things that otherwise would be out-of-reach. It is also used to skin fruit and scare off predators.[3] It is typically seen in pairs or small groups. In flight it alternates between a burst of rapid flaps with the relatively short, rounded wings, and gliding. They are poor flyers, and usually hop from tree to tree. Nesting is seasonal, but timing differs between regions. The nest is typically placed high in a tree and consists of a cavity, at least part of which is excavated by the parent birds themselves. It has also been recorded nesting in holes in earth-banks and terrestrial termite-nests. Their reproduction cycle is annual. The female usually lays two to four eggs a few days after mating. The eggs are incubated by both sexes and hatch after 17–18 days. These birds are very protective of themselves and of their babies.
Bill function:
The bill is largest beak relative to body size of all birds providing 30 to 50% of its body surface area.[4] It was called by Buffon a “grossly monstrous” appendage.[5] Diverse functions have been suggested. Charles Darwin suggested it was a sexual ornament: “toucans may owe the enormous size of their beaks to sexual selection, for the sake of displaying the diversified and vivid stripes of colour with which these organs are ornamented".[6] Further suggestions have included aid in peeling fruit, intimidating other birds when robbing their nests, social selection related to defense of territory, and as a visual warning.[4][7]
Research has shown that one function is as a surface area for heat exchange.[4] The bill has the ability to modify blood flow and so regulate heat distribution in the bird, allowing it to use its bill as a thermal radiator.[4] In terms of surface area used for this function, the bill relative to the bird’s size is amongst the largest of any animal and has a network of superficial blood vessels supporting the thin horny sheath on the bill made of keratin called the rhamphotheca.
In its capacity to remove body heat the bill is comparable to that of elephant ears.[4] The ability to radiate heat depends upon air speed: if this is low only 25% of the adult bird’s resting heat production to as much as four times this heart production. In comparison the bill of a duck and the ears of elephant can shed only 9 to 91% of resting heat production.[4] The bill normally is responsible for 30 to 60% of heat loss. The practice of Toco Toucan’s of placing their bills under their wings may serve to insulate the bill and reduce heat loss during sleep.[4] It has been observed that "complexities of the vasculature and controlling mechanisms needed to adjust the blood flow to the bill may not be completely developed until adulthood."
Aviculture:
The Toco Toucan is sometimes kept in captivity, but has a high fruit diet and is sensitive to haemochromatosis (an iron storage disease).[8] Also, pet Toco Toucans must not be permitted to eat mouse (or rat) meat, due to a risk of bacterial infection.[9] There is an ongoing population management plan that should help to revert the decreasing captive population of the Toco Toucan for Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) member institutions. This will be the second management plan that is occurring since 2001.
Tucano-toco, fotografado no Setor Policial Sul, em Brasília, Brasil.
Texto, em português, da Wikipédia a Enciclopédia livre:
Características:
Apresenta 56 cm de comprimento e pesa cerca de 540 gramas, sendo o maior de todos os tucanos. Não apresenta dimorfismo sexual: a plumagem é uniformemente negra da coroa ao dorso e no ventre. Dispõe de uma pele nua amarela ao redor do olho e suas pálpebras são azuladas. O papo é branco e frequentemente tingido de amarelo. O uropígio é branco e a plumagem embaixo da cauda, que forma o crisso, é avermelhada.
A característica mais notável da espécie é o grande bico amarelo-alaranjado, que pode medir 22 cm. O bico do tucano-toco é constituído de tecido ósseo esponjoso, formando uma estrutura não maciça e areada como um favo-de-mel. Isso torna o bico mais leve e, portanto, não dificulta o voo. A ponta da maxila possui uma grande mancha negra.
Estudos realizados com tucanos-toco comprovaram que seu bico também serve com um dispersor natural de calor, devido ao número de vasos sanguíneos nele presentes em contato com o ambiente.[1]
Filhotes apresentam bico curto e amarelo, sem a mancha negra. A pele ao redor dos olhos é esbranquiçada e a garganta é amarela.
Distribuição e hábitat:
O tucano-toco é encontrado nos dosséis das florestas tropicais da América do Sul, desde as Guianas até o norte da Argentina. Sua distribuição ocorre desde o Piauí, Tocantins, Mato Grosso até o extremo norte do Rio Grande do Sul. No litoral, está presente desde o Rio de Janeiro até Santa Catarina.
Fósseis de Ramphastos toco do Pleistoceno (20.000 anos) foram encontrados em Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais.
Alimentação:
É um animal onívoro, alimenta-se de insetos, lagartos, ovos, filhotes de outras aves e, principalmente, frutos. Seu hábito alimentar é diurno. Costuma descer ao solo para aproveitar-se dos frutos que estejam caídos.
Reprodução:
Sua reprodução ocorre no final da primavera e a fêmea bota de 2 a 4 ovos em ninhos localizados no alto dos troncos das árvores. O casal se reveza na tarefa de chocar os ovos, os quais eclodem entre 16 e 20 dias. Quando nascem, sua aparência é desproporcional; seu bico é grande e o corpo, pequeno; os olhos só abrem após três semanas e os pais cuidam de seus filhotes até eles saírem dos ninhos, o que ocorre em seis semanas. A coloração do bico só é definida meses após o nascimento.O tucano-toco ainda não é uma espécie ameaçada de extinção, entretanto tem sido capturado e traficado para outros países a fim de ser vendido em lojas de animais. Isto tem como conseqüência a diminuição de sua população nas florestas, pondo em risco a variabilidade genética, como também a morte de muitos animais durante o transporte.
