The blue-throated toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus caeruleogularis'') is a

near-passerine Near passerines and higher land-bird assemblage are terms of traditional, pre-cladistic taxonomy that have often been given to tree-dwelling birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines (order Passeriformes) owing to mor ...

bird in the toucan family

Ramphastidae Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five gen ...

. It is found in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

and far northwestern

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Taxonomy and systematics

What is now the blue-throated toucanet was two of many subspecies of the then emerald toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus prasinus'' ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

''). In 2008 the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC) split 10 of those subspecies to create seven new species, one of which is the blue-throated toucanet, and retained four of them as subspecies of their current

emerald toucanet The emerald toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus prasinus'') is a species of near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found from Mexico to Nicaragua. Taxonomy and systematics The emerald toucanet was originally described in the genu ...

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

''.

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

(HBW) concurred. In 2016 the IOC merged the violet-throated toucanet (''A. cognatus'') into the blue-throated and again HBW concurred. However, the North and South American Classification Committees of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

and the

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 2022 ...

declined to follow them. In 2017 they did split the emerald toucanet into two species, the northern (''A. prasinus'') and southern (''A. albivitta'') emerald-toucanets, each with seven subspecies. They treat the IOC's "blue-throated" as two subspecies of the northern emerald-toucanet.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2022. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.aou.org/taxaRemsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022 Two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of blue-throated toucanet are recognized by the IOC and HBW: * The

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

"blue-throated" ''A. c. caeruleogularis'' -

Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, a ...

, 1853 * "Violet-throated toucanet" (''A. c. cognatus'') -

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, 1912: Other names used include Nelson's toucanet and Goldman's blue-throated toucanet. Blue-throated Toucanet JCB 2

Description

As in all

toucan Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five ge ...

s, the blue-throated toucanet has a large

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. The adult is long and weighs about . The sexes are alike in appearance although the female generally is smaller and shorter-billed. Their bill is black with a wide yellow stripe along its culmen and a white vertical strip at its base. The nominate subspecies has a rufous patch near the base of the culmen; ''A. c. cognatus'' does not. Both subspecies have plumage that is mainly green like that of other members of genus ''Aulacorhynchus'', and is somewhat lighter below than above. The nominate's crown has a bronze tinge and its nape and upper back a yellowy bronze tint; ''A. c. cognatus'' crown and nape are almost pure green. Their eye is dark brown surrounded by even darker bare skin. Their lower face and throat are deep blue. Their undertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

and the underside of the tail are chestnut. The base of their tail's upper surface is green becoming blue towards the end and the tips of the feathers are chestnut. Immatures are grayer than adults and the chestnut of the tail tips is browner and smaller.Schulenberg, T. S., A. M. Contreras-González, C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-González, M. d. C. Arizmendi, and K. Powell (2020). Northern Emerald-Toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus prasinus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.noremt1.01 retrieved December 16, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of blue-throated toucanet is found along most of the length of Costa Rica into western Panama as far as

Veraguas Province Veraguas () is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. It is the only Panamanian province to border both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It covers an area of 10,587.6&nb ...

. ''A. c. cognatus'' is found in central and eastern Panama and slightly into Colombia's

Chocó Department Choco Department is a department of Western Colombia known for its large Afro-Colombian population. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

. In elevation the species ranges between in Costa Rica and between in Panama. It primarily inhabits humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

but is also found in more open landscapes like

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

, shrublands, pastures, and plantations. A potential problem relates to the distribution limit between ''A. c. cognatus'' and ''A. c. caeruleogularis'' in Panama. Some authors place the population in central Panama in ''A. c. caeruleogularis'', which limits ''A. c. cognatus'' to extreme eastern Panama and adjacent Colombia. However, others assert that the toucanets in central Panama are closer to ''A. c. cognatus''.

Behavior

Movement

The blue-throated toucanet is non-migratory.

Social behavior

The blue-throated toucanet is gregarious and frequently gathers in groups of up to about 10.

Feeding

The blue-throated toucanet forages by gleaning, usually while perched. Its diet is eclectic and includes a wide variety of fruits, invertebrates of many

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

, and vertebrate prey such as birds, eggs, lizards, and snakes.

Breeding

The blue-throated toucanet's breeding season is from March to August. It nests in tree cavities, either natural or those abandoned by woodpeckers. They can be as high as above the ground. The typical clutch size is three or four but can range from one to five. Both sexes incubate the eggs but the female does so more than the male. The incubation period is 16 days and fledging occurs 42 to 45 days after hatch.

Vocal and non-vocal sounds

The blue-throated toucanet's main vocalization is "a loud, far-carrying, dry ''rrip rrrip rrip rrip'' or ''curré curré curré''...often continued for minutes on end". In flight its wings make a whirring sound.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the blue-throated toucanet as being of Least Concern. Though its population size is not known, it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. However, it "is vulnerable to habitat destruction".

References

External links

The Blue-throated Toucanet's call on Naturesongs.com
Mangoverde {{Taxonbar, from=Q40537 blue-throated toucanet Birds of the Talamancan montane forests blue-throated toucanet