The Choco Toucan (Ramphastos brevis) is a large, mainly black bird found in humid lowland and foothill forests on the Pacific slope of Colombia and Ecuador. Within its range, extensive habitat destruction is taking place, but it remains fairly common locally.

Description

The Choco Toucan is a large (although among the smallest Ramphastos toucans), predominantly black bird with a striking yellow and black beak, a yellow bib, white uppertail coverts, red undertail coverts and green ocular skin. It is very similar to the larger Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, but lacks brown to the beak. In the wild, the two are generally best separated by their voice; croaking in the Choco, yelping in the Chestnut-mandibled.

Distribution

As suggested by its common name, the Choco Toucan is restricted to the humid Chocó forests in western Ecuador and western Colombia. Its estimated global range is over 110,000km².

Reproduction

Choco Toucans lay 3-4 pure white eggs that are incubated for 16 days. The young fledge in about 45-50 days.

In captivity

In aviculture, their requirements of spacious cages and a high-fruit diet, and their sensitivity to hemochromatosis (iron-storage disease), make them difficult to maintain for novice keepers. The Choco Toucan is very rare in captivity in the United States.