Home › Birds A–Z › Toco Toucan

The largest toucan — glossy black with a white throat and an enormous orange bill.

How to spot it

The largest toucan, about 55–65 cm, glossy black with a white throat and rump — and an enormous orange bill up to around 20 cm long, tipped with a black spot.

Where it lives

Found across central and eastern South America in semi-open country — forest edges, woodland, savanna and plantations — rather than in deep, unbroken rainforest.

What it eats

Mainly fruit, plucked and tossed back with a flick of the head, along with insects, eggs and small animals. The huge bill also sheds heat, helping the bird keep cool.

Song & behaviour

A deep, croaking, frog-like grunt, often repeated from a high perch. It moves in small loose groups and hops heavily through the branches.

Nesting

It nests in a tree cavity, and both parents take turns to incubate the eggs and feed the young.

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