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Showing posts with label CHESTNUT MANDIBLED TOUCAN (Ramphastos ambiguus ssp. swainsonii). Show all posts
Showing posts with label CHESTNUT MANDIBLED TOUCAN (Ramphastos ambiguus ssp. swainsonii). Show all posts

Monday, 17 April 2017

28-3-2017 VILLA LAPAS, COSTA RICA - CHESTNUT MANDIBLED TOUCAN (Ramphastos ambiguus ssp. swainsonii)


The chestnut-mandibled toucan or Swainson's toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus swainsonii) is a subspecies of the yellow-throated toucan which breeds from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia to western Ecuador.

The scientific and alternative English names commemorate the English ornithologist and artist William Swainson. Since 2009, the chestnut-mandibled toucan has been considered a subspecies of the yellow-throated toucan.

Like other toucans, the chestnut-mandibled is brightly marked and has a large bill. The male is 56 cm long, while the smaller female is typically 52 cm long. Weight ranges from 599 to 746 grams (1.3–1.6 lbs).

The sexes are alike in appearance, mainly black with maroon hints to the head, upper back and lower breast. The face and upper breast are bright yellow, with narrow white and broader red lines forming a lower border. The upper tail is white and the lower abdomen is red. The legs are blue. The body plumage is similar to that of the smaller keel-billed toucan, but the bill pattern is quite different. The chestnut-mandibled toucan's bill is diagonally divided into bright yellow on top and maroon on bottom.

Juvenile birds are sooty-black, and have duller plumage, particularly with respect to the bib, red border, and lower mandible. They are fed by the parents for several weeks after leaving the nest.