Toucan Toucan!

Toucan Toucan!

What better animal to meet in the rainforest than the iconic toucan! These bright beaked birds were on our list and we were thrilled to find a few! Come meet them with us!

Keel-billed Toucan Fun Facts: 

• Those large colorful bills make up a 1/3 of their body length. The bills are not heavy as they are made up of hollow bone.
• The bills are covered in keratin- the protein that makes up your hair & nails.
• These jazzy looking birds have blue feet! Those feet have two toes facing front and two facing backwards to help them grip on branches.
• Keel-billed toucans are very social. They live in family groups of around 12 individuals.
• They are omnivores. Fruit makes up most of their diet, but they occasionally eat insects and eggs.
• Both females and males help rear the chicks. They are born with no feathers and can not see til they’re around 3 weeks old.
• They are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

It is so fun to watch the toucans eat fruit they find. They may dissect the fruit first, but often they throw it back whole! They are even known to play ball with fruit- throwing to each other. And just like those howler monkeys- they weren’t sharing! Bummer.