Toucan

The Toucan is a striking bird species with large colourful bills. They can grow up to a whopping 65cm with bills up to 20cm; giving them the prize for the bird with the largest bill when compared to it’s body size. They can also live up to around 20 years.

The brilliant almost neon colouring is actually a form of camouflage that developed specifically to allow the brids to hide in their native rainforests of Central and South America.
The large bill serves an additional purpose allowing the Toucan to regulate its body temperature by cooling its blood supply.

They are generally predated upon by jaguars, snakes and humans, and while they are listed under the Least Concern category, their numbers are decreasing due to capture, pollution and large scale habitat loss.