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Overview
Distribution
Geographic Range
Neotropical: Emerald Toucanets, Aulacorhynchus prasinus are found abundantly in Central and South America, mostly along the eastern coast. They are sparse in the eastern-central parts of Mexico and exist more densely in the southern mountainous parts down through Costa Rica and Panama into the northernmost part of Venezuela. (Campbell 1974, USGS 2001, Peterson 1973).
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
The male and female are monomorphic (alike) in color, but dimorphic (different) in size. The smallest of the toucans, Emerald Toucanets are commonly 30 cm. to 33 cm. (11 3/4 inches - 13 inches). The male will weigh in at about 160 g. (5.7 ounces), and the female at about 149 g. (5.3 ounces). Adults have colorfull beaks, with a definite outline of white on both; the top one colored yellow, and the bottom one colored black or dark red depending on the subspecies. Their feather coloration, dominantly green with highlights of whites, grays, and reddish browns, makes them blend in with the colors of the trees in which they dwell. (Campbell 1974, Dunning 1993, Perrins 1996, Terres 1980).
Range mass: 149 to 160 g.
Range length: 30 to 33 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
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Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
- Terrestrial
- Freshwater
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Habitat
Their native habitats are in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama in the higher elevation cloud forests. They have recently expanded their range into lower elevation rain forest. Emerald Toucanets will make their home at elevations from 915 m up to 3050 m (3,000 feet - 10,000 feet). They migrate vertically from lower elevation to higher elevation. (Campbell 1974, Peterson 1973, USGS 2001).
Range elevation: 915 to 3050 m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: rainforest
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Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
Emerald Toucanets are omnivorous, eating lizards and the eggs or nestlings of other birds when possible, though insects and fruits are the largest part of their diet. (Terres 1980).
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Associations
Ecosystem Roles
Emerald Toucanets have been identified as a seed disperser for several rainforest trees. Studies indicate that the germination rate of seeds of these trees is higher following the seeds passing through the digestive tract of the bird. (Wenny 2000).
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
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Predation
A Bat Falcon--once observed by a boy who helped Alexander Skutch find nests at Montana Azul--was the only predator of adult Emerald Toucanets, cited within. It is presumed snakes and other arboreal animals are also a threat, primarily to eggs or unfledged offspring. (Skutch 1983).
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Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Lifespan/Longevity
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 10 (low) years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 11.00 years.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 12 to 14 years.
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Reproduction
Reproduction
Mating season is typically March through July depending on the weather, as inclement weather will harm the eggs or the female during incubation. Like many species, they have a common mating practice--a sort of sparring--mostly harmless; they engage in “bill fencing” where injury does occur because of how aggressive this activity can get. This usually begins after the pair has worked at preparing a nest.
Mating System: monogamous
Three or four white eggs are typically found in a tree-hole nest located between 2 and 30 meters (7 feet - 90 feet) above ground. Each egg has an incubation period of about 16 days. Both parents participate in the incubation before hatching, and in the nesting and feeding after; but are never in the nest at the same time. The parents keep a clean nest for their altricial (not well developed) young. The chicks have no eyesight the first 16 days, and though their eyes may no longer be tightly closed at about 25 days, they remain cloudy until about 27 days. Their feathers are not at all apparent the first 20 days. At about 35 days, except for having only pink skin around their eyes and the absence of the white line on their mandibles, they appear to have full plumage--green, like the adult. They take flight as early as 40 days, at which time the feedings provided by the parents begin to decrease until such time as the young do not return to the nest at all; at about 43 days. (Campbell 1974, Skutch 1983).
Typically the Emerald Toucanet is considered to be a secondary cavity nester, appropriating previously excavated holes in trees from smaller species.This nest hole is then enlarged just enough for the adult Emerald Toucanet to get inside. The male seems to be the relief parent in nesting activities, giving the female short to extended breaks during the process of preparing the nest, cleaning the nest, and foraging and feeding the brood. While the brood is present only the female will stay throughout the night. The male relief comes throughout the day. (Campbell 1974, Skutch 1983, Toucans 1999).
Range eggs per season: 3 to 4.
Average time to hatching: 16 days.
Average fledging age: 43 days.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal )
Both parents participate in the incubation before hatching, and in the nesting and feeding after; but are never in the nest at the same time. The parents keep a clean nest for their altricial (not well developed) young.
Parental Investment: altricial ; male parental care ; female parental care
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Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Statistics of barcoding coverage: Aulacorhynchus prasinus
Public Records: 3
Species: 3
Species With Barcodes: 1
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
Justification
History
- 2008Least Concern
- 2004Least Concern
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Conservation Status
Emerald Toucanets were not found in any of these endangered species databases. However, the importance being placed on the coffee market may someday have a negative effect of survival for this species. (Henriquez 1999).
US Migratory Bird Act: no special status
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
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Trends
Population
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Wikipedia
Emerald Toucanet
The Emerald Toucanet, Aulacorhynchus prasinus, is a near-passerine bird occurring in mountainous regions from Mexico, through Central America, to northern Venezuela and along the Andes as far south as central Bolivia. Some taxa currently included in this species are sometimes split into separate species (see Taxonomy).
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Description
Like other toucans, the Emerald Toucanet is brightly marked and has a large bill. The adult is 30–35 centimetres (12–14 in) long and weight can range from 118–230 grams (4.2–8.1 oz)[1][2] The sexes are alike in appearance, although the female generally is smaller and slightly shorter-billed. It is, as other members of the genus Aulacorhynchus, mainly green. The vent and tail-tip are rufous. The bill is black with yellow to the upper mandible (amount depends on the exact subspecies) and, in all except the nominate (prasinus) and wagleri groups (see Taxonomy), a white band at the base of the bill. The members of the caeruleogularis group have a rufous patch near the base of the upper mandible, while some members of the albivitta group have a rufous patch near the base of the lower mandible. The throat is white in the nominate and the wagleri group, blue in the caeruleogularis and cognatus group, pale grey-blue in the lautus group, blue or black in the atrogularis group, and white or grey-blue in the albivitta group. The eye-ring ranges from blue to red, in some subspecies very dark, almost appearing blackish from a distance. The legs are dull greyish and the iris is dark.
Juveniles are duller, incl. the throat, and, depending on subspecies, the black areas of the bill are replaced with dusky or the bill is entirely yellowish.
Habitat and behavior
The Emerald Toucanet is a generally common in humid forest and woodland, mainly at higher elevations. The 3–4 white eggs are laid in an unlined hole in a tree, usually an old woodpecker nest, but sometimes a natural cavity. Both sexes incubate the eggs for 14–15 days, and the chicks remain in the nest after hatching. They are blind and naked at birth, and have short bills and specialised pads on their heels to protect them from the rough floor of the nest. They are fed by both parents, and fledge after about 6 weeks. They are fed for several weeks after leaving the nest.
Small flocks, usually consisting of 5–10 birds, move through the forest in "follow-my-leader" style with a direct and rapid flight. This species is primarily an arboreal fruit-eater, but will also take insects, lizards, bird eggs, and other small prey.
The calls of the Emerald Toucanet are a loud dry rrip rrip rrip rrip rrip and a graval graval graval. It has been suggested that the two different calls are given by the two sexes. There are also croaking alarm and aggression calls.
Taxonomy
It has been suggested that the Emerald Toucanet actually should be split into 7 species (below described as they roughly occur from north to south):
- Wagler's Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus wagleri). Endemic to south-western Mexico. Monotypic.
- Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus). Found from southern Mexico to Nicaragua. Includes subspecies warneri, virescens, stenorhabdus, chiapensis and volcanius.
- Blue-throated Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus caeruleogularis). Found in Costa Rica to western Panama. Incl. subspecies maxillaris.
- Violet-throated or Nelson's Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus cognatus). Found in eastern Panama and adjacent far north-western Colombia. Monotypic.
- Santa Marta Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus lautus). Endemic to the Santa Marta Mountains in northern Colombia. Monotypic.
- (North) Andean Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus albivitta). Found in the Andes from western Venezuela, through Colombia to northern Ecuador. Incl. subspecies griseigularis and phaeolaemus.
- Black-throated or Peruvian Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus atrogularis). Found from southern Ecuador, through Peru, far western Brazil (in the state of Acre), to central Bolivia. Incl. subspecies dimidiatus and cyanolaemus.
These splits are mainly based on morphology and plumage as described by Navarro et al. (2001).[3] Their results were preliminary, as they themselves pointed out. As a result most authorities, notably SACC, do not recognize more than a single widespread species, but recognize the need for a solution to this complex.[4] They are clearly separate species as per the phylogenetic species concept, but judging the species limits as per the biological species concept is difficult due to the entirely allopatric distributions of the various groups.[3] There are no major vocal differences between the various populations, but that in itself is not unusual for separate species that do not overlap.[3]
Genetic evidence has to some extent supported the above splits, although with different borders between the species in the northern Andes, and of the above suggested species, data is lacking for lautus.[5][6] According to their genetic results, the north Ecuadorian toucanets, which are white-throated and usually included in albivitta,[7] are closer to the atrogularis group than "true" albivitta of Colombia and Venezuela.[6] Assuming this is correct, it seems likely that north Ecuadorian toucanets represent a new taxon, which should be treated as a subspecies of A. atrogularis. They also found that griseigularis was closer to the atrogularis group than albivitta, but unlike the north Ecuadorian toucanets, they opted for treating it as a separate species, the Grey-throated or Plumbeous-throated Toucanet (A. griseigularis).[5][6] In that case, A. albivitta is known as the White-throated Toucanet.[5] If albivitta and griseigularis are treated as separate species, it is unclear where phaeolaemus belongs, as genetic data for that taxon is missing. In appearance and distribution phaeolaemus is closest to griseigularis,[8][9] but inexplicably it has been suggested it should be treated as a subspecies of A. albivitta.[5] In 2011 it was also suggested that cyanolaemus should be treated as a subspecies of A. albivitta,[5] but this was presumably an error, as it directly contradicts genetic data, which place it in A. atrogularis.[6]
Another potential problem relates to the distribution limit between A. cognatus and A. caeruleogularis in Panama. Although the reason for this treatment is unclear, the population in central Panama has been placed in A. caeruleogularis, which would limit A. cognatus to extreme eastern Panama and adjacent Colombia.[5][6] According to George Angehr, author of The Birds of Panama,[10] it is possible toucanets from central Panama actually are closer to A. cognatus.[11]
Aviculture
(nominate group)
The Emerald Toucanet is a popular pet toucan. It is affectionate when hand-fed and loves to play and interact with its owner. Emerald Toucanets are as quick to learn tricks as cockatoos. They are active and need a large cage for their size, including perches that they can hop back and forth on. They also require a high-fruit diet, without which they are susceptible to a disease of excessive iron storage that is similar to hemochromatosis in humans.
Notes
- ^ http://www.nashvillezoo.org/piciformes/ramphastidae.htm
- ^ "Toucans, Barbets & Honeyguides" by Lester Short & Jennifer Horne. Oxford University Press (2001), ISBN 0-19-85466-1
- ^ Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, J. Pérez-Emán, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer (2011). A classification of the bird species of South America: Trogoniformes to Piciformes. American Ornithologists' Union. Accessed 25 May 2011
- ^ a b c d e f Bonaccorso, E., Guayasamin, J. M., Peterson, A. T., and Navarro-Sigüenza, A. G. (2011). Molecular phylogeny and systematics of Neotropical toucanets in the genus Aulacorhynchus (Aves, Ramphastidae). Zoologica Scripta, 40. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2011.00475.x
- ^ a b c d e Puebla-Olivares, F., E. Bonaccorso, A. E. de los Monteros, K. E. Omland, J. E. Llorente-Bousquets, A. T. Peterson, and A.G. Navarro-Siguenza. (2008). Speciation in the Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus) complex. The Auk. 125(1): 39-50.
- ^ Ridgely, R. S., and Greenfield, P. J. (2001). The Birds of Ecuador. ISBN 0-8014-8720-X (vol. 1), ISBN 0-8014-8721-8 (vol. 2)
- ^ Fjeldså, J., and Krabbe, N. (1990). Birds of the High Andes. ISBN 87-88757-16-1
- ^ Restall, R. L., Rodner, C., and Lentino, M. (2006). Birds of Northern South America. ISBN 0-7136-7243-9 (vol. 1). ISBN 0-7136-7242-0 (vol. 2).
- ^ Angehr, G., and Dean, R. (2011). The Birds of Panama. ISBN 978-0-8014-7674-7
- ^ Miller, M. (2009). Just Back from the 127th Annual Meeting of the AOU. Accessed 25 May 2011.
References
- BirdLife International (2009). "Aulacorhynchus prasinus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/141896. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- A guide to the birds of Costa Rica by Stiles and Skutch ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.
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