The Toucan

Beautiful Birds

      Have you ever noticed the logo on a Kellogg's Fruit Loops cereal box? It's a toucan, and what could better symbolize this multi-flavored and colorful cereal than an equally colorful and fruit-loving bird? Toucans are spectacular birds to behold. They are brilliantly colored and exotic-exactly what we imagine a rain-forest animal to be. Yet most of us are familiar only with the Fruit Loops toucan despite the fact that there are many different kinds of toucans in the wild. One example is the national bird of Belize-a keel-billed toucan living in Central and South America.

      Few birds are as colorful as toucans, and keel-billed toucans are especially radiant. With an enormous rainbow-colored beak, bright yellow throat and chest, neon green skin around the eyes, and iridescent blue legs, keel-billed toucans are impressive creatures! Their beak really stands out because of how large it is-about one-third of the animals' size. Although it appears quite heavy, toucans' beak is actually very light. It is almost entirely hollow with thin rods of bone to support it. Using their beak, toucans eat mostly rain-forest fruit, but they also eat bird eggs, insects, and tree frogs.

      Toucans are very social birds. They travel in flocks of six or more and live in tree holes (often old woodpecker holes) with several other toucans. They are also playful birds, and can often be seen throwing berries at one another or playfully beak-fighting with another toucan. When nesting, a mother and father take turns sitting on their glossy white eggs.

Contents are courtesy of the Chicago Zoological Society, which operates Brookfield Zoo.