Toucans, with their vibrant plumage and oversized bills, are iconic residents of the Neotropics. Found from Southern Mexico through Central America and into South America as far south as northern Argentina, these birds are not only visually striking but also play a crucial role in rainforest ecosystems. This article delves into the dietary habits of toucans, exploring their preferences, adaptations, and significance within their natural habitats.
What Do Toucans Eat? An Overview of Their Omnivorous Diet
A toucan's diet is surprisingly varied, encompassing much more than just fruit. While they are primarily frugivorous, meaning their diet mainly consists of fruit, toucans are also opportunistic omnivores. This means they supplement their fruit intake with various other food sources, including insects, smaller birds, eggs, lizards, and even fish. This adaptability allows them to thrive in diverse environments and ensures they receive a balanced nutrient intake.
Fruit: The Cornerstone of the Toucan Diet
Toucans are known to visit fruiting trees early in the morning before embarking on longer journeys in search of new fruit sources. The majority of a toucan's diet consists of raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Because a toucan’s diet consists primarily of fruits, these birds acquire all of their water from them. They have also been observed to live in the wild for up to 20 years.
Supplementing with Protein: Insects, Eggs, and Small Animals
To supplement their diet, toucans consume insects, small reptiles, bird eggs, and fish. The inclusion of insects, smaller birds, and small lizards provides a crucial addition of protein to their diet. Captive toucans have been reported to hunt insects actively in their cages, and it is possible to keep toucans on an insect-only diet.
Plundering Nests: A Controversial Feeding Behavior
Toucans are also known to plunder nests of smaller birds, taking eggs and nestlings. This behavior provides a crucial addition of protein to their diet.
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The Toucan Bill: A Multi-Purpose Tool for Feeding and More
The colorful and large bill, which in some large species measures more than half the length of the body, is the hallmark of toucans. The toucan's bill is a defining feature, and it plays a significant role in their feeding habits. The large and brightly colored bill is also a big deal, and some say that it is used to attract potential mates. Others suggest it is useful in scaring away predators or animals that might compete with the toucan for food.
Reaching for Food: Extending Their Reach
Toucans are known to reach deep into tree cavities to grab eggs from other birds or to dig deeply into their own nesting cavities to clear them out, and pairs have been seen tossing fruit to one another in a courtship ritual. They utilize the length of their beaks to reach into holes in trees. The beak allows them to reach fruits and other food sources that would otherwise be inaccessible. The toucan's bill is also a big deal.
A Lightweight Marvel: The Bill's Unique Structure
Despite its size, the toucan's bill is very light, being composed of bone struts filled with spongy tissue of keratin between them, which take on the structure of a biofoam. The bill has forward-facing serrations resembling teeth, which historically led naturalists to believe that toucans captured fish and were primarily carnivorous; today it is known that they eat mostly fruit.
Thermoregulation: Regulating Body Temperature
Researchers have discovered that the large bill of the toucan is a highly efficient thermoregulation system, though its size may still be advantageous in other ways.
Intimidation: Defending Food Sources
It has also been theorized that the bill may intimidate smaller birds, so that the toucan may plunder nests undisturbed.
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Feeding Behavior: Techniques and Adaptations
When you see a toucan eating, you may notice that if they have a piece of food that is too large for them to eat, they will throw it up into the air multiple times. Toucans do not have teeth, so they use their tongue to assist them in pushing the food to the back of their throat. Finding and catching food is aided by a toucan’s long tongue, which can measure up to 5.9 inches.
Dietary Needs in Captivity: Maintaining Toucan Health
Toucans kept in captivity are often fed two large meals every day. However, because most pet toucans are not adequately fed, they can develop an iron-storage illness. Like mynahs, toucans and hornbills are susceptible to iron storage disease. Their basic diet should be a low-iron pellet (< 100 ppm) with a variety of fruits (apples, banana, grapes, blueberries) offered daily (1). If the bird picks the fruit preferentially over the large toucan pellets, the pellets can either be crushed, or very small low-iron pellets can be mixed with the fruit so the pellets adhere to the fruit and are ingested.
Nutritional Considerations
Care should also be taken to prevent iron-sensitive birds from absorbing iron through rust from the facility (eg, from the ground or cage). Iron content of pellets can vary considerably, so the iron content of every pellet batch should be analyzed before it is fed. To help prevent high iron absorption, dietary vitamin C should be < 500 mg/kg/day, and the pellet should contain a considerable amount of tannins, which help bind iron, making it less available for absorption.
Hydration
These long-beaked birds may have difficulty drinking water and may become dehydrated if not provided with a large enough drinking pan. The amount of iron in the drinking water should be low.
Threats to Toucans and Their Diet: Habitat Loss and Hunting
Habitat loss is the largest threat to toucans. Their rainforest home is being cut down for human use, such as for infrastructure and farmland. Humans are a major threat to toucans, as they are still hunted in parts of Central America and the Amazon region. Toucans are losing their habitats within trees and high canopies as a result of deforestation. They are also being injured and killed by falling trees. Many individuals seek out toucans to sell as pets, knowing that the exotic bird may go for a high price.
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