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HABITS AND ADAPTATIONS: Toucans, toucanets and aracaris are noisy, gregarious, active and inquisitive. Up to 40 individuals will flock together outside of breeding season. A very flexible end to their backbone enables them to move their tail into a vertical position, probably an adaptation that enables them to nest in relatively small tree holes. They sleep with their beak tucked back over their wings with the tail upright. Although they are cavity nesters, they prefer to roost on limbs at night. Due to their relatively short, rounded wings, they are not powerful fliers and appear to prefer hopping from one limb to the other. Their voice is harsh, but they are also capable of producing a rattling sound, somewhat like the loud purring of a cat, which some believe signifies pleasure or contentment.
They require small chunks of food that can be swallowed whole. They cannot chew off pieces from whole fruit and must toss their food into the air before catching and swallowing it. The serrated edge of the beak enables the bird to secure a firm hold upon the food and the great length facilitates the plucking of fruits from the extremities of the thin twigs and branches while the bird remains securely perched on a more substantial limb.
DIET: Toucans, toucanets, and aracaris are frugivorous birds, whose primary diet is fruit. In the wild they consume fruits from as many as 100 species of plants and trees. They also consume a variety of insects for protein, especially during their nesting cycle. They will also consume large small reptiles, other bird’s eggs and even other birds. Zoo diet: pelleted diet (Mazuri parrot) and a variety of soft fruits.
BREEDING AND MATURATION: Male and female aracaris are ready to breed for the first time at about a year and a half of age. Their courtship call is a quiet, rapid clucking and a soft whining. Once they get together for the first time, the pair can breed any time of year. First a mated pair digs a hole in a branch, high in a tree, or they find an abandoned macaw or woodpecker hole. The female lays two to four eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 17 to 19 days. When the chicks hatch, they have no feathers and their eyes are closed. Both parents feed the chicks insects for the first few weeks, then they add fruit to the diet. About six weeks after hatching, the nestlings are ready to venture out of the nest. Chicks may remain with their parents and even help out with the next clutch of eggs until they are old enough to breed on their own.
MISCELLANEOUS: The Order Piciformes consists of related bird families including toucans, woodpeckers, puffbirds, honeyguides, barbets and jacamars. Toucans are one of the most widely dispersed families of neo-tropical birds. It is believed that the large, gaudy beak is essential to species recognition and sexual display. As the forests of tropical regions are cleared for agriculture and other commercial purposes, toucans and other species are squeezed into even smaller areas. As the trees are felled, fewer nest sites will be available.
Status in Captivity in North America: The green aracari is an AZA Studbook/Population Management Plan (PMP) species. A large variety of captive ramphastids began to produce viable young in the 1970’s. In 1980 Jerry Jennings produced the first recorded breeding of the green aracari. The green aracari has been one of four specis of ramphastids which have consistenly bred in captivity. It is the second most numerous ramphastid in captivity.
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