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title: "What the sources say about the Toco Toucan | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "58 claims from the Toco Toucan profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Toco Toucan (*Ramphastos toco*)

> 58 claims from the Toco Toucan profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Toco Toucan](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/toco-toucan/)

## AnAge entry for Ramphastos toco. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Ramphastos_toco

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The oldest toco toucan in the AnAge longevity database lived 16.2 years, in captivity | Maximum longevity 16.2 years (captivity) |
| weightKg: 0.54 | Adult weight 540 g (note: AnAge's life-history average; ADW's 592 to 760 g and SDZ's 860 g maximum are also Light (0.1 to 10 kg)) |

## Ramphastos toco. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T22682164A281011279.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2025-2.rlts.t22682164a281011279.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The IUCN Red List classifies the species as Least Concern. | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). Ramphastos toco Müller, 1776, IUCN taxon 22682164. |

## Ramphastos toco (Toco toucan). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ramphastos_toco/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Dry semi-open woodland and savanna with scattered trees | Toco toucans are most commonly found in dry semi-open areas, which include regions such as woodland, savanna, plantations, and other regions that consist of scattered trees |
| plus occasional insects and the eggs of other birds | Toco toucans are canopy frugivores whose diet is composed mainly of fruits, but they are considered to be an opportunistic feeder. They also occasionally feed on various types of insects and eggs of other birds |
| yet it accounts for just one-twentieth of its mass | It accounts for one-twentieth of the total mass of the toucan |
| The bill is the toucan's main foraging tool, letting it reach into tree holes and grasp fruit from surrounding branches. | The large bills of toco toucans are the main foraging tool that allows the birds to reach into tree holes and to grasp fruits from surrounding branches |
| A toco toucan does not. | Toco toucans are unique in that they does not use their tongue in the process of swallowing food |
| It places a piece of fruit at the very tip of its bill and leans its head back, projecting the food straight into its pharynx. | they place a piece of fruit between the very end of their beak and lean their head back at an approximately 180 degree angle. This causes the food item to project directly into the pharynx |
| found mostly in dry, semi-open country with scattered trees, such as woodland and savanna, and along forest edges | Toco toucans are most commonly found in dry semi-open areas, which include regions such as woodland, savanna, plantations, and other regions that consist of scattered trees (note: 'along forest edges' is Birds of the World's 'found along forest edges', claimed above) |
| Life in Semi-Open Country | Toco toucans are most commonly found in dry semi-open areas |
| In Brazil it is abundant in the cerrado. | In Brazil, toco toucans have been found in abundance in the "cerrado." |
| It relies on seasonal fruit, so it moves from one habitat and region to the next to feed. | They are canopy frugivores that rely heavily on the availability of seasonal fruiting plants. Toco toucans therefore move from one habitat and region to the next in order to satisfy their dietary needs |
| and occasionally insects and other birds' eggs, including those of hyacinth macaws | They also occasionally feed on various types of insects and eggs of other birds, including those of endangered hyacinth macaws (note: ADW's 'endangered' is dropped: a status claim from an undated account, and no current Red List source for the macaw is in the pack) |
| Jaguars, snakes, coatis, and eagles are among their predators. | common predators include jaguars (Panthera onca), snakes (order Serpentes), coatis (Nasua and Nasuella species), and eagles (Accipitridae) |
| Occasionally. | They also occasionally feed on various types of insects and eggs of other birds, including those of endangered hyacinth macaws |
| The toco toucan eats mainly fruit but is an opportunistic feeder, and the eggs it sometimes takes include those of hyacinth macaws. | Toco toucans are canopy frugivores whose diet is composed mainly of fruits, but they are considered to be an opportunistic feeder. They also occasionally feed on various types of insects and eggs of other birds, including those of endangered hyacinth macaws |
| The macaw depends on it all the same | these macaws are in fact indirectly dependent on the toucans |
| hyacinth macaws almost always nest in manduvi tree hollows, and the manduvi tree relies on toco toucans to disperse its seeds | hyacinth macaws almost always nest in the hollows of the manduvi tree and the manduvi tree depends upon the seed dispersal services provided by toco toucans |
| tags: frugivore | Toco toucans are canopy frugivores whose diet is composed mainly of fruits (note: the tag's seed-dispersal clause: 'the manduvi tree depends upon the seed dispersal services provided by toco toucans') |
| for a bird that places a piece of fruit at the tip of its bill, leans its head back and tosses it straight into its throat | they place a piece of fruit between the very end of their beak and lean their head back at an approximately 180 degree angle. This causes the food item to project directly into the pharynx |

## Toucan. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/toucan

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The toco is the largest and heaviest toucan, up to 61 centimeters (24 inches) long | Largest - toco toucan Ramphastos toco, up to 24 inches (61 centimeters) (note: the family page's size line names the toco; its 860 g maximum contradicts ADW's older 592 to 760 g range, so the current page wins and the range is cut) |
| and 860 grams (1.9 pounds) | Heaviest - toco toucan, up to 1.9 pounds (860 grams) |

## Tattersall, Andrade & Abe (2009). Heat Exchange from the Toucan Bill Reveals a Controllable Vascular Thermal Radiator. Science.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1175553

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A blood-vessel-packed bill that doubles as a radiator | using the bill as a transient thermal radiator |
| that works as a heat radiator | using the bill as a transient thermal radiator |
| The toco toucan carries the largest beak relative to body size of any bird | possesses the largest beak relative to body size of all birds |
| and it also works as a radiator | using the bill as a transient thermal radiator |
| Relative to its size, the toucan's bill is one of the largest thermal windows in the animal kingdom, rivaling an elephant's ears in its ability to radiate body heat. | the toucan's bill is, relative to its size, one of the largest thermal windows in the animal kingdom, rivaling elephants' ears in its ability to radiate body heat |
| A vascular radiator | regulate heat distribution by modifying blood flow, using the bill as a transient thermal radiator (note: the lead is also the paper's title phrase, 'Controllable Vascular Thermal Radiator') |
| The Biggest Bill for Its Size | possesses the largest beak relative to body size of all birds |

## van de Ven et al. (2016). Regulation of Heat Exchange across the Hornbill Beak: Functional Similarities with Toucans? PLOS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154768

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A blood-vessel-packed bill | The large beaks of both hornbills and toucans are highly vascularised |
| A bill laced with blood vessels | The large beaks of both hornbills and toucans are highly vascularised |
| carrying away an average of 60 percent of the bird's non-evaporative heat loss above 28°C | non-evaporative heat loss via the beak averages 60% of total non-evaporative heat loss at air temperatures (T a ) above 28°C |
| Adult toco toucans can widen the blood vessels in their beaks depending on the temperature, letting heat escape from the bill. | Adult Toco Toucans, Ramphastos toco , are able to vasodilate their extremely large beaks depending on thermal conditions, allowing heat to be dissipated from the beak |
| At air temperatures above 28°C (82°F), the bill carries away an average of 60 percent of the bird's non-evaporative heat loss. | non-evaporative heat loss via the beak averages 60% of total non-evaporative heat loss at air temperatures (T a ) above 28°C (note: 82°F is a conversion of the source's 28°C) |
| Its bill can make up 30 to 50 percent of its total body surface area | the Toco Toucan's beak represents 30–50% of total body surface area |
| A Bill That Sheds Heat | are able to vasodilate their extremely large beaks depending on thermal conditions, allowing heat to be dissipated from the beak |
| The bill is heavily supplied with blood vessels, and the bird controls the flow through them by narrowing or widening them. | The large beaks of both hornbills and toucans are highly vascularised, and control of blood is regulated by vasoconstriction and vasodilation processes |
| With the vessels widened, the bill gives off heat. | are able to vasodilate their extremely large beaks depending on thermal conditions, allowing heat to be dissipated from the beak |
| Above 28 degrees Celsius it accounts for an average of 60 percent of the toucan's non-evaporative heat loss. | non-evaporative heat loss via the beak averages 60% of total non-evaporative heat loss at air temperatures (T a ) above 28°C |

## Seki, Bodde & Meyers (2010). Toucan and hornbill beaks: A comparative study. Acta Biomaterialia.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2009.08.026

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Under the surface is a sandwich: a shell of overlapping keratin tiles, each about 50 microns across, around a core of bony foam. | The beak of both species is a sandwich-structured composite, having an exterior, or rhamphotheca, consisting of multiple layers of keratin scales and a core composed of a fibrous network of bony closed-cell foam. The rhamphotheca is an arrangement of approximately 50microm diameter, overlapping, keratin tiles |
| Foam, of a sort. | a core composed of a fibrous network of bony closed-cell foam |
| Materials scientists who compared toucan and hornbill beaks describe the toco's bill as a sandwich: layers of keratin scales outside, and a core that is a fibrous network of bony closed-cell foam. | The structure and mechanical behavior of Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) and Wreathed Hornbill (Rhyticeros undulatus) beaks were compared. The beak of both species is a sandwich-structured composite, having an exterior, or rhamphotheca, consisting of multiple layers of keratin scales and a core composed of a fibrous network of bony closed-cell foam |
| Modelling that design, they found the foam core raises the bill's resistance to bending three to six times while lowering its compressive strength by only 50 percent. | The sandwich design of beaks was analyzed using the Karam-Gibson and Dawson-Gibson models. The presence of a cellular core increases the bending resistance (Brazier moment) by a factor of 3-6 while decreasing the compressive strength by only 50% |

## Baussart et al. (2009). Ballistic food transport in toucans. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology.

https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.542

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a throat that takes fruit without the tongue ever touching it | The tongue never makes contact with the food (note: 'ever' paraphrases the source's 'never') |
| Many birds move food to the throat with the tongue. | The basic mechanism of food transport in tetrapods is lingual-based. Neognathous birds use this mechanism for exploiting a large diversity of food resources |
| Fruit Thrown to the Throat | The food is projected between jaws with similar initial velocity in both species |
| Its tongue never touches the fruit. | The tongue never makes contact with the food |
| Tongue movement instead goes with a widening of the throat that lets the food reach the esophagus. | Tongue movement is associated with throat expansion, permitting the food to reach the entrance of the esophagus at the end of the ballistic trajectory |
| Researchers who studied toco toucans feeding found that the food is projected between the jaws and travels from the tip of the bill to the pharynx in one transport cycle, which they define as ballistic transport. | Food transport in two neognathous species of toucans (Ramphastos toco and R. vitellinus) is defined as ballistic transport mechanism. Only one transport cycle is used for moving the food from the tip of the beak to the pharynx. The food is projected between jaws |
| In effect, yes. | The food is projected between jaws with similar initial velocity in both species |
| The tongue plays no part in pushing it along and never makes contact with the food. | The tongue never makes contact with the food nor is it used to expand the buccal cavity (note: 'plays no part in pushing it along' restates never contacting the food; the tongue's only stated role is throat expansion) |

## Sedgwick (2020). Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco). Birds of the World.

https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.toctou1.01

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| and forest edges, from Guyana south to Argentina and central Brazil west to southeastern Peru | The only non-forest toucan, the Toco Toucan is found along forest edges and in low wet grassland from Guyana south to Argentina, and from central Brazil west to southeastern Peru. |
| Mainly fruit, much of it figs | Toco Toucans feed extensively on figs and other fruit |
| Toco toucans range from Guyana south to Argentina and from central Brazil west to southeastern Peru. | found along forest edges and in low wet grassland from Guyana south to Argentina, and from central Brazil west to southeastern Peru |
| The toco is the only non-forest toucan | The only non-forest toucan, the Toco Toucan is found along forest edges |
| It eats a great many figs and other fruit | Toco Toucans feed extensively on figs and other fruit |
| When foraging, toco toucans travel in small groups through the canopy, gliding in single file from site to site. | When foraging, these birds travel in small groups in the canopy, gliding in single file from site to site |