Gould's toucanet (''Selenidera gouldii'') 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 t ...

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 g ...

. It is found in Bolivia and Brazil.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 tawny-tufted toucanet was originally described in the genus '' Pteroglossus''. It has at times been 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 ...

with the

spot-billed toucanet The spot-billed toucanet (''Selenidera maculirostris'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. ...

(''S. maculirostris'') and the two are

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

.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. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022 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 ...

. The species' common name commemorates the English ornithologist and bird artist

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

(1804–1881).

Description

Gould's toucanet is about long. Males weigh and females . Males and females have the same bill pattern but the female's bill is shorter. The bill's

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 ...

has a narrow white base, a black middle, an orange-yellow outer third, and ivory "teeth" along the

tomium In anatomy, the tomium is the sharp cutting edge of the beak of a bird or the bill of a turtle. Sometimes the edge is serrated for tearing through flesh or vegetation. See also * Culmen (bird) The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomic ...

. 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 teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bon ...

's inner half is ivory with a thin black area between it and the outer end's orange-yellow. Both sexes have bare green-yellow to blue skin arond the eye and a golden-yellow tuft of feathers behind it; both are paler in the female. Adult males have a black head, nape, chin, throat, and belly. Their upperparts are green with a yellow band on the lower neck. Their tail is green with chestnut tips on the central one to three pairs of feathers. Their flanks are yellow 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 s ...

are red. Females have chestnut where the male has black, yellower flanks, and a narrower yellow band on the back. Immatures are duller overall, usually without a yellow band on the back, and their bill's pattern is not sharp.Short, L.L. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Gould's Toucanet (''Selenidera gouldii''), 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.goutou1.01 retrieved December 28, 2022

Distribution and habitat

Gould's toucanet is found in central and eastern Brazil south of the Amazon River between the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

and the Atlantic ocean in the state of

Ceará Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of th ...

, and from there south as far as eastern Bolivia and the Brazilian state of

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighborin ...

. It inhabits a variety of tropical forest types, primarily wet lowland and

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate abov ...

but also palm, deciduous, and

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. ...

. It favors tall forest (up to high) but on sandy soils occurs in areas with shorter trees. In elevation it ranges as high as in eastern

Amazonia The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

Behavior

Movement

As far as is known, Gould's toucanet is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

Gould's toucanet forages from the forest's undergrowth to its canopy, typically in pairs or groups of up to four. Its diet is known to include fruit and some animal matter but details are lacking.

Breeding

Gould's toucanet's breeding season is thought to be between May and September but somewhat shorter in the western part of its range. Its nest, eggs, incubation period, and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

Gould's toucanet makes a " ries of 'ggrawnk' to 'ggrraaw' notes". Its vocalization has also been described as a "very low, croaking, 'porc-porc-porc- -'."

Status

The IUCN has assessed Gould's 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. "This species’ ability to use second growth should favour it. Details of breeding and ecology are needed for possible monitoring."