The Toucan

The Toucan is a medium-sized bird native to the rainforests of central and south America and the Caribbean. There are more than  40 different type of species of Toucan that inhabit the south American jungles today.

The Toucan has small wings as it dwells in forests and therefore do not need to travel large distances. The Toucan's wings wingspan is roughly the same length as the toucans body. Although the Toucan is able to fly, the Toucan is not very good at flying and cannot be in the air for very long. Instead of using their wings to get around, the Toucan hops around the tree branches using its curved toes and sharp claws to get a good grip on the narrow surface that it holds onto.

Toucans are omnivorous birds and feed on a mixture of plants and animals. Toucans eat fruits,berries,nuts and seeds along with eggs, insects and small mammals and reptiles. The primary source of food for the toucan is the fruit which grows on the trees where the toucan lives.

Toucans have a number of predators in the south American jungle including humans, large birds of prey and wild cats. Weasels,snakes and rats tend to prey more on the eggs of the Toucan rather than the toucan itself (many small animals are generally solitary when feeding, toucans often live in small groups of around 6 or 7 birds. The bright colours of the toucan gives the toucan camouflage in the colourful rainforests canopy. However , due to their bright colours, toucans are often captured and sold as pets with toucans being popular animals in the exotic pet trade bill)

Toucans build their nests in trees and lay around 3 eggs a day. When the toucan chicks hatch, both male toucan and the female toucan help to feed them and protect them from predators.