Common Toucan

Common Toco Skull Replica or Toco Toucan measures 8.4 inches, museum quality polyurethane resin cast. Common Toco Skull Replica is 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Made in USA.

The Common Toco or Toco toucan (Ramphastos toco), also known as the Giant toucan, is a species of bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae.

It is the largest species of Toucan and has a distinctive appearance, with a black body, a white throat, chest and uppertail-coverts, and red undertail-coverts.

Its most conspicuous feature is its massive beak, which is yellow-orange with a black base and large spot on the tip. It has pointy edges like a serrated kitchen knife. This allows toucans to bite into tough fruit and other items of food.

The Common Toco lightweight bill is composted of thin, bony struts, giving it little solid asubstance. Unlike many animals, the Toco toucan does not use its toung to swallow food. Instead, it holds food at the tip of its beak and titls its head back so the food falls into its throat.

Blood is pumped to the beak to cool down its body. Alternatively, the beak can be tucked under the wings, to maintain body heat.

It is endemic to South America, where it has a wide distribution from the Guianas south to northern Argentina and Uruguay, and its range has recently been expanding southwards.

Unlike other Toucans, which inhabit continuous forests, Common Toco inhabit a variety of semi-open habitats at altitudes of up to 5,740 ft. They are especially common in the Brazilian cerrado, gallery forests, and the wetlands of the Pantanal.

The Common Toco or Toco toucan’s mainly feed on fleshy fruits, but also supplement their diets with insects, eggs, and nestlings of other birds. They feed on any available sugar-rich fruits, and show a high level of variation in their diet depending on the surrounding habitat.

Toucan birds make nests in small holes high up in hollow trees. They sometimes put a thin layer of grass or regurgitated seeds inside the hole as a lining for the nest. Toucans don’t make holes in trees. Instead, they make their nests in holes created by woodpeckers or other animals.

Breeding is seasonal, with the timing of the breeding season differing between regions. Nests are usually made in hollows in trees and contain two to four eggs.

Both Common Toco or Toco toucans parents incubate the eggs for 17 to 18 days before hatching.

Toco toucans face threats from hunting, habitat alteration, and the pet trade.