Channel-billed Toucan

The Channel-billed Toucan is a large, striking toucan of South American forests, with predominantly black plumage broken by a bright yellow-orange bib on the throat and chest, a red or crimson patch beneath the tail, and blue skin around the eye. Its sizeable bill is mostly black with a base often washed in shades of yellow, green, or blue depending on subspecies, giving the species a somewhat more subdued look than its rainbow-billed relatives.

Like other toucans, it is a canopy-dwelling fruit specialist that moves through the forest in small, vocal groups, using its long bill both to reach fruit on slender branches and, opportunistically, to prey on the eggs and young of other birds.

Key field marks

• Mostly black body with a bright yellow-orange throat and chest patch
• Large, mostly black bill, often with a colorful (yellow, green, or blue) basal area
• Red or crimson undertail coverts
• Blue bare skin around the eye

Similar species

• Keel-billed Toucan shows a much more boldly multicolored bill striped in green, orange, red, and blue, rather than the mostly black bill of the Channel-billed Toucan.
• Chestnut-mandibled (Black-mandibled) Toucan is larger overall with a chestnut-brown lower mandible and a longer, more elongated bill shape.

Habitat

Inhabits lowland and foothill tropical rainforest, forest edge, and gallery forest, generally favoring the canopy.

Range

Found widely across northern and central South America, including the Amazon basin, the Guiana Shield, and parts of eastern Brazil.

Migration

Non-migratory, though flocks may shift locally in response to fruit availability.

Behavior

Social and often noisy, traveling in small flocks through the canopy, hopping between branches; known to raid the nests of smaller birds for eggs and nestlings.

Voice

A repetitive, croaking or yelping call, often given persistently from a prominent perch.

Feeding

Feeds mainly on fruit, supplemented with insects and the eggs or chicks of other birds.

Nesting

Nests in natural tree cavities, often reusing old woodpecker holes; lays 2-4 white eggs incubated by both parents.