Birds of Ecuador

    PICIFORMES: Ramphastidae (Toucans)  
Genus: Ramphastos (4 species, 8 worldwide)



Yellow-throated Toucan
Yellow-throated Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus) Near Threatened
Mutatá, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

A large toucan once called the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan (but has a black bill in parts of South America).
From back at nest hole in a palm.

Choco Toucan
Choco Toucan (Ramphastos brevis)
San Cipriano, Valle de Cauca, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

25% smaller than the Yellow-throated Toucan, and always with a black lower mandible.

White-throated Toucan
White-throated Toucan (Ramphastos tucanus)
Parque das Aves, Foz do Iguazu, Brazil
  A large toucan.
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

A large toucan. The 'tucanus' subspecies in west Venezuela, Guyanas, and northeast Brazil has a red bill. Both races have a yellow stripe on top of the bill like one race of the Channel-billed Toucan.

Channel-billed Toucan
Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus)
 
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

A bit smaller than the White-throated Toucan. There are three forms, and a fourth that is now a species, the Citron-throated Toucan. The 'ariel' subspecies in east Brazil has a yellow/orange chest/throat and a black bill. The 'culminatus' subspecies in most of the west Amazon has a white chest/throat and all black bill. The 'vitellinus' subspecies in the Guyanas and north Brazil has a yellow stripe on the top of the bill and a mix of white and orange on the chest/throat.


© Tom Friedel - All Rights Reserved, except for images and data otherwise noted.       Colombia       Panama       Ecuador       Costa Rica       Mexico
Experimental sites:       Peru       Venezuela       The World       Brazil       Bolivia
Really Experimental sites:       Guyana       Cuba