Hi all, Finally getting around to do my “blog”. (such an ugly word) Didn’t know what to do with it. As the main theme for this website is wildlife I though that everyday I would put up a photo of an animal that I have photographed and give some information about it. I hope you enjoy this blog as I share with you the amazing wildlife Brazil has to offer. 

English Name:         Ariel Toucan

Portuguese Name:  Tucano-de-bico-preto

 Latin Name:             Ramphastos Vitellinus

I thought I would kick off with one of the iconic Brazilian birds: the Toucan.  The most famous species is the “Toco Toucan”, that’s the one you see on cereal boxes, cartoons, etc.  But there are many species, sub species of this iconic bird. The one in question today in the “Ariel Tucan” which is a sub species of the “Channel-billed Toucan”. The main feaures of the Ariel Toucan are the huge black bill (9-14 cm) in which the base is yellow; the skin around the pale blue eye is red; the entire throat and chest are orange. The average lengh is 48 cm. The mating ritual involves food fights, as they tend to throw fruit at each other. Their main food source is fruit, but will opportunistically  take prey such as insects, frogs and small lizards. They are also known to plunder nests of smaller birds, taking eggs and nestlings. Their calls are frog-like, croaking series of  “creeop, creeop, creeop…” They enjoy habitats such as forested lowlands and foothills, often near water, forest edge, and forest patches in savannas. They are found in pockets south of the Amazon and in parts of the east coast of Brazil. 

These photos were taken in the State of  Espirito Santo on the Brazilian east coast.