Toco Toucans
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The Toco Toucan Ramphastos toco is the best known and largest member of the toucan family and is commonly found in zoos. They live in South American rainforests and Cerrado savannah.
Toco Toucans have striking plumage with a black body, white throat and a blue eye ring. The most noticeable feature, however, is its huge yellow beak with a black tip, which looks heavy but is incredibly light because the inside is hollow. The birds are an average of 25 inches long, with their beaks that measure up to 8 inches.
The Toco Toucan eats mainly fruit using its beak but will also occasionally eat insects, reptiles and bird eggs. They nest and roost in holes in trees.
When breeding Toco Toucans search for fallen trees or holes for nesting sites. Their reproduction cycle is annual. After mating, the female usually lays 2 eggs a few days after mating.
Also when pulled from the nest hand fed as babies they can eventually make pets. They do however require spacious cages to hop back and forth from because of their active nature, and require toys in their cage to prevent boredom. Their high fruit diet and sensitivity to hemochromotosis (iron storage disease) make them difficult for the novice keeper to maintain. Also they fling their fruit so the potential owner should be prepared to clean up dried fruit. They are expensive birds to maintain.
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org
Relevant Web Resources: The Society for Conservation in Aviculture: whozoo.org ... Emeraldforestbirds.com ... Mangoverde.com
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