The tepui toucanet or Whitely's toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus whitelianus'') 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

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, 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 ...

.Remsen, 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. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The tepui toucanet and what is now the chestnut-tipped toucanet (''A. derbianus'') were for a time considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

. They were separated by major taxonomic systems beginning in 2011. The tepui toucanet has three subspecies: * ''A. w. duidae'' - Chapman, 1929 * 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. w. whitelianus'' - Salvin & Godman, 1882 * ''A. w. osgoodi'' -

Blake Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presuma ...

, 1941

Description

The tepui toucanet is long and weighs . Its bill is deep red and black with a vertical white line at its base and grooves on the

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The t ...

. The sexes are alike. Their plumage is generally green, with a white throat, yellow-green 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 some blue beneath the eye. The nominate subspecies has short dull rufous tips on the tail feathers. Subspecies ''A. w. duidae'' is larger than the nominate and larger rufous tail tips. ''A. w. osgoodi'' is smaller than the nominate, has no rufous on the tail, and has less blue beneath the eye.del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Tepui Toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus whitelianus''), 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.chttou2.01 retrieved December 19, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of tepui toucanet are found thus:Clements, 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 * ''A. w. duidae'', Venezuela's Amazonas and western Bolívar states and adjacent northern Brazil * ''A. w. whitelianus'', southeastern Bolívar state in southern Venezuela and northwestern Guyana * ''A. w. osgoodi'',

Serra do Acari The ''Serra do Acari'' or Acari Mountains are a mountain range in the border of Brazil and Guyana. The range runs through the north side of the Brazilian city of Oriximiná, Pará, and the south side of East Berbice-Corentyne region in Guyana. T ...

in southern Guyana and the

Wilhelmina Mountains The Wilhelminagebergte () is a mountain range in the district of Sipaliwini in central Suriname. It extends about from west to east. It is named after Queen Wilhelmina. The Wilhelminagebergte is part of the Tumucumaque Uplands of the Guiana Shiel ...

and Tafelberg in Suriname Undocumented sight records in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

lead the South American Classification Committee 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 ...

to treat the species as hypothetical in that country. In southern Venezuela and nearby Brazil the tepui toucanet inhabits moist subtropical montane

cloudforest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran S ...

s. In eastern Venezuela and

the Guianas The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France * ...

it inhabits hilly tropical forest. In elevation it typically occurs between . However, it has been recorded at on Venezuela's Cerro Roraima and as low as in Guyana and in Suriname.

Behavior

Movement

The tepui toucanet is thought to be generally sedentary but is suspected to make seasonal elevational movements in the tepuis of Venezuela.

Feeding

The tepui toucanet is believed to forage between the forest's lower levels and the subcanopy. It's diet is essentially unknown but is assumed to be similar to the fruit and insects of the chestnut-tipped toucanet. It is mostly seen singly or in pairs but is known to join

mixed-species foraging flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

Breeding

The tepui toucanet's breeding season appears to be from February to July. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.

Vocalization

The tepui toucanet's song is "a low grunting 'grank, graank, graank...'".

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 tepui toucanet as being of Least Concern, though its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is " ill common in some Venezuelan localities" and occurs in at least two protected areas in that country. "Information surgently needed on subspecies ''osgoodi''

hich is Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

potentially threatened, in tssmall Guyana-Surinam range."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2871753

tepui toucanet The tepui toucanet or Whitely's toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus whitelianus'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Clar ...

Birds of Venezuela Birds of the Guianas

Birds of the Tepuis