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Toucans: Ramphastidae

Toucans And People

Brazilian rulers once wore ceremonial robes of toucan feathers. Amazonian Indians still use toucan feathers and bills as decorations. Toucans are also hunted for food and taken from nests to be raised as pets. In some areas they are considered pests on orchard crops. In Great Britain, a toucan was the mascot for a popular beer, and in the United States a blue toucan is the mascot for a well-known breakfast cereal.

TOUCAN TALK

Hollywood movies often use toucan sounds in the background. These weird-sounding calls create a jungle atmosphere. The calls are very loud and will carry through the dense forest. And they are very strange. Channel-billed toucans croak. Emerald toucanets grunt. White-throated toucans yip like dogs. Other species rattle and squawk and even purr. Often, a pair of birds will perch high in a tree to call for an hour or more, twice a day, at dawn or dusk. Their duet is a classic rainforest sound.

Additional topics

Animal Life ResourceBirdsToucans: Ramphastidae - Physical Characteristics, Diet, Behavior And Reproduction, Toucans And People, Conservation Status, Gray-breasted Mountain Toucan (andigena Hypoglauca): Species Accounts - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT