Fishing toucan
| Fishing toucan | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fisher toucan ( Ramphastos sulfuratus ) |
||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Ramphastos sulfuratus | ||||||||||
| Lesson , 1830 |
The fishing toucan ( Ramphastos sulfuratus ), also known as the rainbow toucan, is a species of bird from the toucan family that lives in tropical Central and South America. There are two subspecies. The fishing toucan is one of the best-researched toucan species; as early as 1929, the ornithologist Josselyn van Tyne carried out extensive field studies on this species. It is relatively often kept in zoological gardens and bird parks because of its size and splendor. The world first breeding took place in 1974 in the Houston Zoo, the European first breeding was in 1983 in the Wuppertal Zoo .
The stock situation of the fish toucan was classified in the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species in 2016 as “ Least Concern (LC) ” and the worldwide population was estimated at 50,000 to 500,000 sexually mature individuals.
features
The striking, colorful beak is long and curved.
measurements and weight
The fishing toucan reaches a head-body length of 45 to 50 centimeters. The males weigh between 362 and 550 grams. The weight of the females varies between 275 and 484 grams. Males of the nominate form have an average beak length of 15.45 centimeters and the females 13.47 centimeters. In the subspecies Ramphastos sulfuratus brevicarinatus , the beak is slightly smaller. In males it has an average length of 13.53 centimeters and in females of 11.67 centimeters.
Appearance
Adult birds have a shiny blue-black body surface, only the feathers from the forehead to the upper back have a red-brown tip. The upper tail-coverts are white and in some individuals washed out yellow. The ear covers, the region between the base of the beak and the eye, the chin and the throat are yellow. In most individuals, a narrow red band separates the yellow breast from the rest of the underside of the body. The rest of the chest, the sides of the body, the flanks and the belly are black-blue. The under tail-coverts are bright red. The wings are also blue-black, only the outer wing feathers are brownish.
The featherless facial skin is individually colored differently. In some birds it is bright yellow with small greenish spots between the eye and the base of the beak, greenish around the eyes and then turning yellow, greenish-yellow with a darker tone around the eye, pale green with a bluish ring around the eye, orange with a greenish ring around the eye or pale green with a yellowish eye ring. The feet and legs are bright blue, matt blue, blue gray or matt greenish.
The beak is relatively narrow and high and the upper beak is curved. The beak color is slightly different from person to person. The basic color of the upper bill is a light pea green, the convex back of the bill ( culmen ) is yellow. On the beak side there is a large, pie-shaped to oval, orange spot. Both at the base of the beak and on the sides of the orange-colored beak spot, the upper beak is pale blue in places. The tip of the beak is purple-brown. The lower beak is predominantly pea green with a small, purple-brown tip. The pea green turns pale blue in front of the tip of the beak.
Fledglings are similar to the adult fishing toucans, but their plumage is a bit more dull in color and the black has a sooty tone. The bill is slightly shorter and initially pale greenish-yellow with an orange-red tip.
Possible confusion
The fishing toucan is very easy to identify as a Ramphastos species due to its beak color. Its distribution area overlaps with that of the somewhat larger golden-throated toucan , which belongs to the same genus. However, this one has a different beak color. The croaking Krek calls of the fishing toucan also differ significantly from the more meowing calls of the golden-throated toucan.
voice
The voice of the fishing toucan does not seem melodious to humans. It is often compared to the croaking of a frog and paraphrased onomatopoeically as quenky quenky quok quok quok . A second utterance is reminiscent of castanets , but this is not generated by a mechanical clatter of beak, but is a vocal utterance.
Occurrence
The distribution area of the fishing toucan stretches from southern Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela. In Mexico it is mostly limited to the states of Veracruz and Yucatán . It is also found in Belize , northern Guatemala , northern and eastern Honduras , eastern Costa Rica and Panama . In Colombia, it breeds mostly in an area bordering the Panama border. Here, its range partially overlaps with that of the coastal toucan . In Magdalena the fishing toucan is being replaced by the yolk toucan . In Venezuela, the number of fishing toucans is declining due to deforestation, but it is still common where there is sufficient forest.
The altitude distribution of the fishing toucan in Mexico ranges from sea level to altitudes of 1400 meters. In Honduras it occurs up to 1260 meters, in Colombia it can still be found in places at altitudes of 1600 meters, while in western Venezuela it rarely occurs at altitudes above 600 meters.
habitat
The fishing toucan occurs in moist, tropical rainforests of the lowlands, but occasionally its habitat also extends to moist, subtropical mountain forests, for example in Costa Rica. He prefers to stay at the edges of the forest and also uses the edge areas of clearcuts as well as coffee and cocoa plantations as a habitat. In drier regions it occurs in the forest areas along rivers. It visits individual fruit-bearing trees even when they are several hundred meters away from the edge of the forest. As a nesting tree, he also uses trees isolated in meadows. It usually stays in the treetops, but also visits low, fruit-bearing shrubs while foraging. He seldom hits the ground.
Food and subsistence
The fishing toucan lives in pairs or in small groups. These usually include six to eight birds, but occasionally twelve and occasionally up to 22 individuals have been observed. Sometimes they are associated with coastal toucans; Collared arassaris sometimes follow troops of fishing toucans. They eat the seeds and fruits of various tree species, for example Iriartea exorrhiza , various Ficus species, nutmeg and spindle trees . Bananas are eaten wherever they are available. Fruits are usually swallowed whole. Of the 24 stomach contents examined, 19 contained exclusively fruit and five also contained animal food. Among them were grasshoppers, spiders, ants, a snake and a lizard.
Reproduction
Fishing toucans do not hollow out their nesting tree themselves. Since they are too big for most woodpecker holes, they use natural tree hollows, mostly rotten knotholes. The toucans prefer those with a narrow entrance; breeding caves have already been identified, the entrance of which was no higher than six centimeters. The nesting holes are between 2.7 and 27.0 meters above the ground. They are used over several breeding cycles if they have successfully incubated in them. As a rule, seeds that have been choked up cover the floor of the nest cavity.
The breeding season falls from January to May. The feeding of berries and other fruits to the partner bird belongs to courtship behavior. The clutch consists of one to four eggs. The eggs are laid one day apart. They have a white skin and weigh between 17.4 and 18.0 grams. The brood begins with the laying of the last egg. The length of the breeding season is not known. The nestlings are fed with fruits and insects by both parent birds. The nestlings are naked for the first 14 days and fully feathered when they are around 37 days old. They fledge between 45 and 47 days of age.
Enemies
In the Yucatán, the hooded eagle is one of the most important predators of the fishing toucan. The magnificent hooded eagle and similar forest-dwelling hawks also beat this toucan species. In the Yucatán region, a cap forest falcon has been observed, which specialized in hunting fishing toucans and captured 27 individuals within ten weeks.
The fishing toucan is also still hunted for human consumption.
Subspecies
There are two subspecies:
- The nominate form Ramphastos sulfuratus sulfuratus ( Lesson ), 1830 occurs from east-southeast Mexico southwards to Belize and northern Guatemala.
- The subspecies Ramphastos sulfuratus brevicarinatus ( Gould ), 1854 differs from the nominate form in that it has a slightly wider red chest band and a slightly shorter beak. The distribution area extends from southeast Guatemala and Panama to northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela.
supporting documents
literature
- Werner Lantermann: Toucans and Arassaris. Filander Verlag, Fürth 2002, ISBN 3-930831-46-5 .
- Lester L. Short, Jennifer FM Horne: Toucans, Barbets and Honeyguides - Ramphastidae, Capitonidae and Indicatoridae. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-19-854666-1 .
Web links
Wikispecies: Fishing Toucan - Species Directory- Ramphastos sulfuratus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on December 23 of 2008.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Ramphastos sulfuratus in the Internet Bird Collection
Single receipts
- ^ Lantermann, p. 184
- ^ Lantermann, p. 186
- ↑ Ramphastos sulfuratus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Accessed January 29, 2018th
- ↑ BirdLife Factsheet on the Fisher Toucan , accessed December 23, 2010
- ^ Lantermann, p. 182
- ↑ Short et al., P. 407
- ↑ Short et al., P. 407 and p. 408
- ^ Lantermann, p. 186
- ↑ a b Short et al., P. 408
- ↑ a b c Short et al., P. 409
- ↑ Short, p. 410
- ^ Lantermann, p. 182 and p. 183