Toucan

Toucan Temporal range: 2–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Early Pleistocene – recent
Clockwise from top-left: toco toucan (Ramphastos toco), plate-billed mountain toucan (Andigena laminirostris), chestnut-eared aracari (Pteroglossus castanotis), white-throated toucanet (Aulacorhynchus albivitta)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Suborder:	Pici
Infraorder:	Ramphastides
Family:	Ramphastidae Vigors, 1825
Genera
Andigena Aulacorhynchus Pteroglossus Ramphastos Selenidera

Toucans (/ˈtuːkæn/, UK: /-kən/) are Neotropical birds in the family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the Toucan barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over 40 different species.

Toucans are arboreal and typically lay two to four white eggs in their nests. They make their nests in tree hollows and holes excavated by other animals such as woodpeckers—the toucan bill has very limited use as an excavation tool. When the eggs hatch, the young emerge completely naked, without any down. Toucans are resident breeders and do not migrate. Toucans are usually found in pairs or small flocks. They sometimes fence with their bills and wrestle, which scientists hypothesize they do to establish dominance hierarchies. In Africa and Asia, hornbills occupy the toucans' ecological niche, an example of convergent evolution.^[1]