Groove-billed toucanet

Groove-billed toucanet
In Henri Pittier National Park, Aragua State, Venezuela
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Ramphastidae
Genus: Aulacorhynchus
Species: A. sulcatus
Binomial name
Aulacorhynchus sulcatus
(Swainson, 1820)
Subspecies A. s. erythrognathus, illustration by Keulemans, 1891

The groove-billed toucanet (Aulacorhynchus sulcatus) is a species of bird in the Ramphastidae family. It is found in mountains of northern Colombia and northern Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical and upper tropical humid forest and woodland, occasionally also occurring in gardens. It includes the yellow-billed toucanet (A. sulcatus calorhynchus), which is sometimes considered a separate species.

Description

It has a total length ca. 35 centimetres (14 in) and it weighs 150–200 grams (5.3–7.1 oz).[2] It is, as other members of the genus Aulacorhynchus, mainly green. The throat is white (or pale bluish in the subspecies A. s. erythrognathus) and the ocular skin is blue. The bill is black with maroon markings, but the maroon is replaced by yellow in A. s. calorhynchus. This distinctive subspecies, which is found in the western part of the species' range, is sometimes considered a separate species, the yellow-billed toucanet (Aulacorhynchus calorhynchus, Gould, 1874), but it is vocally similar to the other subspecies and hybrids are known from the region where it comes into contact with A. s. sulcatus. Genetic evidence suggests they should remain as subspecies of a single species.

It is generally fairly common in its range, and therefore considered Least Concern by BirdLife International. It occurs in several protected areas such as the Henri Pittier National Park in Venezuela.

Yellow-billed toucanet, illustration by Keulemans, 1891

References

  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Aulacorhynchus sulcatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. Short, Lester L.; Horne, Jennifer (2001). Toucans, Barbets & Honeyguides. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854666-1.

External links