Range: Guyana, Surinam, northern and eastern Brazil.
Habitat: Tropical forest. Mainly found in lowland woodland, stands of palms and secondary vegetation.
Description: Largest of toucans; plumage mostly black, with white throat, orange bill; upper tail coverts white; lower tail coverts scarlet; dark brown iris with cobalt-blue orbital ring and naked orbital patch orange; legs and feet blue-gray.
Adaptations/Habitat: Lives in tops of highest trees, leaving only in periods of drought when food is scarce; families and flocks; poor flier; called the "jokers" of tropical American forest; they will often fly to and fro among branches, beating their beaks loudly against them, much as if they liked to hear the noise; they will tease one another and use their beaks like dueling swords; mutual preening; inquisitive; the purpose of the beak is not fully understood, thought possibly to play a role in pair formation and in social life of group, acting as a signal; related to woodpeckers.
Breeding/Growth:
Diet: Fruit; get berry from tip of beak to throat by jerking head back; when soft part of berry is digested, the hard seeds are regurgitated; will sometimes eat fish, eggs, or small birds.
