The hooded mountain toucan (''Andigena cucullata'') is a species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
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 Bolivia and Peru.
Taxonomy and systematics
The hooded mountain toucan was originally described in genus ''
Pteroglossus''.
It is
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
.
[
]
Description
The hooded mountain toucan is long and weighs . Males and females have the same plumage and bill pattern though the female's bill is shorter. Their bill is mostly yellow-green, with a black tip and a black spot near the base of the mandible
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...
. Their head is dark blue to black with pale blue bare skin around the eye and a gray-blue collar on the hindneck. Their upper back is chestnut becoming green and yellow at the rump. Their tail is blackish and their wings green. Their underparts are mostly sooty blue to blue-gray; their thighs are rusty and 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 ...
are red.[Short, L.L. (2020). Hooded Mountain-Toucan (''Andigena cucullata''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.homtou1.01 retrieved January 4, 2023]
Distribution and habitat
The hooded mountain toucan is found on the east side of the Andes from southeastern Peru's Department of Puno
Puno () is a department and region in southeastern Peru. It is the fifth largest department in Peru, after Cuzco, Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It is bordered by Bolivia on the east, the departments of Madre de Dios on the north, Cusco ...
into western and central Bolivia as far as Cochabamba Department
Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa Jach'a Suyu, es, Departamento de Cochabamba , qu, Quchapampa Suyu), from Quechua ''qucha'' or ''qhucha'', meaning "lake", ''pampa'' meaning "plain", is one of the nine departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the ...
. It inhabits wet temperate and subtropical forest. In elevation it mostly ranges between but is known as low as .[
]
Behavior
Movement
The hooded mountain toucan is mostly sedentary but individuals wander below the usual lower limit of its range.[
]
Feeding
The hooded mountain toucan forages from the forest's understorey up to its canopy, singly or in small groups that might be extended families. Its diet is known to include several kinds of fruit but details are lacking.[
]
Breeding
The hooded mountain toucan's breeding season is thought to be from February to June but perhaps might start as early as November. Essentially nothing else is known about its breeding biology.[
]
Vocal and non-vocal sounds
The hooded mountain toucan's song is "a slow series of 'peeeeah' notes". Its calls include "ick" or "tik" notes. Songs and calls can include bill-clapping.[
]
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 hooded mountain toucan as being of Least Concern. Though it has a limited range and its population size is not known, the latter is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.[ "Data on nesting and foraging are needed in order to provide bases for monitoring."][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q874688
hooded mountain toucan
Birds of the Bolivian Andes
Birds of the Peruvian Andes
hooded mountain toucan
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot