The white-throated toucanet or greyish-throated toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus albivitta'') 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

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 ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The white-throated toucanet was originally described in the genus '' Pteroglossus''. What is now the white-throated toucanet was four 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 white-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 two of the seven, the Santa Marta toucanet (''A. lautus'') and gray-throated toucanet (''A. griseigularis''), into the white-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 "white-throated" as four subspecies of the southern 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 Four

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 white-throated toucanet are recognized by the IOC and HBW: * "Santa Marta" toucanet (''A. a. lautus'') -

Bangs Bang or bangs may refer to: Products * M1922 Bang rifle, a US semi-automatic rifle designed by Søren Hansen Bang * Bang, a List of model car brands, model car brand * Bang (beverage), an energy drink Geography * Bang, Lorestan, a village in I ...

, 1898 * "Grey-throated" toucanet (''A. a. griseigularis'') - Chapman, 1915 * ''A. a. phaeolaemus'' -

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 ...

, 1874 * 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 ...

''A. a. albivitta'' - ( Boissonneau, 1840)

Description

Like other

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 white-throated toucanet is brightly marked and 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 ...

. Adults are long and weigh 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. Subspecies ''A. a. albivitta'' and ''A. a. phaeolaemus'' have some chestnut or maroon at the base of the culmen. All four subspecies have plumage that is mainly green like that of other members of genus ''Aulacorhynchus'', and is somewhat lighter below than above. The nominate ''A. a. albivitta'' has a white throat. It has bare yellow to orange skin around the dark eye that is futher surrounded by blue feathers. Subspecies ''A. a. lautus'' has a pale gray throat and bare orange-brown or gray skin around the eye. ''A. a. phaeolaemus'' has a pale blue throat and ''A. a. griseigularis'' a gray throat. All subspecies have olive green legs and feet with dusky yellow soles.Schulenberg, T. S., A. M. Contreras-González, C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, C. A. Soberanes-González, M. d. C. Arizmendi, and K. Powell (2020). Southern Emerald-Toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus albivitta''), 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.souemt1.01 retrieved December 18, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The four subspecies of white-throated toucanet are found thus: *''A. a. lautus'',

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

of northern Colombia *''A. a. griseigularis'', the northern part of the Western Andes and the western slope of the Central Andes of Colombia *''A. a. phaeolaemus'' Colombia's Western Andes except the northernmost part *''A. a. albivitta'', the Andes of northwestern Venezuela, both slopes of Colombia's Eastern Andes and the eastern slope of the Central Andes, and the eastern Andes of northern and central Ecuador The white-throated toucanet primarily inhabits the interior of 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 the forest's edge,

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. ...

, plantations, and clearings with scattered trees.

Behavior

Movement

The white-throated toucanet is non-migratory.

Social behavior

The white-throated toucanet is gregarious and frequently gathers in small groups.

Feeding

The white-throated toucanet forages by gleaning in the middle to upper levels of the forest, usually while perched. Its diet is eclectic and includes a wide variety of fruits, terrestrial invertebrates, and small vertebrate prey.

Breeding

Little is known about the white-throated toucanet's breeding biology. Its nesting season in Colombia and Venezuela is from January to September and in Ecuador from September to November. It nests in a tree cavity like others of its family.

Vocal and non-vocal sounds

The white-throated toucanet's vocalizations seem to vary across its range. Authors describe it as "a rapid ser esof short ''took'' or ''churt'' notes" in Colombia, as "a guttural, grinding ''grá-val, grá-val, grá-val''...varied to ''roouk, roouk, roouk''" in Venezuela, and "a persistent and fast ''rek-rek-rek-rek or rr-rek, rr-rek, rr-rek''" in Ecuador. 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 white-throated toucanet as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, but its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is "vulnerable to habitat destruction".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3532791 Aulacorhynchus Birds described in 1840