Toucan Facts

Toucan Profile

For those of us who grew up in the sideways rainthe perpetual milky light of an overcast summer and single-digit indoor temperaturesthe captivating colours and fragrances of artificially sweetened “tropical” juice drinks were a memorable treat and seeded in some of us a deep yearning for the exotic neotropical paradises they promised.  

And if there was any animal more suited to be plastered on everything containing that magic combination of pineapple extract and GFS it would have to be the juicyfruit-coloured toucan.

But in realitythis bird is much more than just a mascot for childhood obesityit’s a key player in a declining ecosystem. 

Toucan Facts Overview

Toucans are more than the stereotypical logothey’re a whole family of incredible birds with big noses that champion a niche seen all over the world.

They’re surprisingly diversethough for the most partthey are all flamboyant in their own wayand carry an incredible nose that’s interesting in its use and structure. 

Inside the beak is another peculiar organand the other end of this bird is a bit unusualtoo. All in allthese are eccentric and extremely significant birds who help protect some of the most important forest ecosystems on Earth.

Interesting Toucan Facts

1. They come in all colours

Toucans are members of the Piciform orderalong with the woodpeckers. This goes some way to explaining some of the quirks they’re known foras well as their strange feetwhich are zygodactylwith two toes forward and two back.  

Toucans make up the family Ramphastidaewhich sounds like advice you’d give a male sheep on his first day of head-butting school and contains at least 40 species in five genera. 

The stereotypical toucan seen in cartoons and various other media stems from just one of the 40 or more species in this familylikely the toco or keel-billed toucanslarge birds with brightly coloured beaksyellow throats and black and white plumage. 

But there is a significant range in size and colour in these birdssome looking more like kingfishers in their colourationothers like jays or barbetsthe latter of which share an infraorder with toucans and are close cousins. 

The smallest is the Lettered aracaria mere handful of toucan weighing around 100gthe largestthe toco toucanweighs well over half a kilo and is more than 60cm long. 

As different as they arethey all have enormous beaks and pretty colours and they’re all quite nice birds in general. 

2. They’re very playful

One immediately obvious use of this enormous nose is in playful combatand toucans seem to enjoy spending time in groups of up to twentysparring with their beakschasing one anothermaking a lot of noise and generally enjoying life. 

These behaviours help maintain bonds between the birds and look like a lot of funtoo. When they’re enjoying themselves they can be heard making a rapid clicking noisevery similar to the purring a cat uses to trick you into a false sense of security. ¹

3. They eat more or less anything

These are primarily fruit-eating birdsand they live in the best place in the world for that. But as most animalsthey enjoy a dose of high protein every now and thenand where the fruit is lackingeggslizards and small birds can pick up the slack. 

In generalthey don’t huntbut will pick up opportunities where they ariseand could be considered opportunistic omnivores. 

4. They have weird tongues

Toucan tongues are a peculiar organ. Their familial ties to woodpeckers come out heretooas the tongue is long and feathered like their head-banging counterparts. 

They have bristles along the tonguepossibly to help taste foodbut more likely to aid in insectivorous snacking; and many have serrated beaks that help grip and manoeuvre food items before swallowing them.  ²

5. Their beaks are radiators

All of this engineering is housed in one of the most iconic bills of any animal after the platypus. These huge protrusions are surprisingly lightweightmade of a lattice-like structure that keeps them strong and stiff without adding too much weight. 

The beak is made of spongy keratinthe same protein responsible for hairfingernails and traditional boner medicine by misguided shamans.

This radiator-like structure can be used as just that – it’s a thermoregulation organable to increase or decrease the body temperature of the bird by opening and closing blood vessels inside it. ³

6. And weird tails

At the other end of the bird is a structural anomaly that isn’t seen in any other avian: a fused string of tail vertebrae on a ball joint. 

This gives the toucan a unique ability to hinge its long tail back over its headwhich it seems to enjoy doing while sleeping. ⁴

7. They’re the hornbills of the Americas

Behaviourally and morphologicallytoucans are remarkably similar to the Hornbills of Africa. 

And this is no coincidencethough it is quite a special quirk of evolution. The two lineages aren’t related closely at alland all of the similarities evolved independentlybut in response to very similar ecological pressures. 

Sowhile they have very different DNAboth hornbills and toucans evolved to solve similar problems using similar adaptations in a process known as convergent evolution.

8. But they’re restricted to primary forest

Unlike many hornbill specieshowevertoucans are more reliant on untouchedprimary forest ecosystems. This puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to logging and habitat destructionand even reforestation since the newly protected forest will take decades to hundreds of years to mature. 

Sadlyat least one species of toucanthe yellow-browed toucanethas lost much of its forest home to cocoa plantations and is now on the endangered list. 

Toucan Fact-File Summary

Scientific Classification

1. Cuddle Buddies (2023)“Rescue Toucan Grows Into Curious And Quirky Bird”Youtube.
2. (2014)“Toucan Tongues…and bill development”Teifi Ringing Group.
3. (2009)“Toucans use their enormous bills to keep their cool”The Guardian.
4. “Toucan”biology dictionary.