Bird Call

Characteristics:	55 cm long and weighs approx. 530 g.  Birds from the eastern Amazon region have a shiny black back and belly with a white throat and breast which have a yellowish sheen.  The breast borders the belly with a narrow red stripe. The upper tail coverts are yellow, while the under tail coverts are red. It has brown irises and bare rings around the eye that are blue.  The sides of the bill are red with a wide black stripe at the base.  In addition the base of the upper mandible is yellow, while the lower mandible is blue. There is a yellow stripe on the upper ridge of the upper mandible that becomes yellow-green towards the tip.  Birds from the western Amazon region can be distinguished by their black bill with bright yellow base and stripe on the upper mandible. Its lower mandible is light-blue at the base.
Call:	The White-throated Toucan searches for an obvious place high in the trees so that it can sing.  Its rhythmic song is a chanting sequence of varying sounds that resemble those of a barking dog but which sound melodious from afar.
Habitat:	This species of bird inhabits large forest areas.  The toucan spends much of its time in the tree tops.
Distribution:	Widespread across the entire Amazon region.
Biology:	The species is usually found in pairs but sometimes in small groups.  It is primarily a fruit-eater but also feeds on the eggs and juveniles of other birds.  It nests mostly in tree hollows that are between 1 and 2 m deep and between 3 and 20 m above the ground. The female lays between 2 and 3 matt white, oval shaped eggs.  The incubation period lasts between 15 and 16 days.  The juveniles reach the hollow openings after 39 days and are then fed for a further 10 days both inside and outside the nest.