From Opus

Monteverde subspecies maxillaris (usually lumped in caeruleogularis)
Photo by: Reini
Monteverde, Costa Rica, February 2005

Aulacorhynchus prasinus

Includes: Andean Toucanet; Black-throated Toucanet; Blue-throated Toucanet; Santa Marta Toucanet; Violet-throated Toucanet; Wagler's Toucanet

[edit] Identification

30-35cm.

• Green plumage
• Rufous vent and tail tip
• Black bill with yellow on the upper mandible
• White, black or blue throat dependent on subspecies
• Eye ring can be blue to red
• Dull grey legs
• Dark iris

The subspecies vary in colour of basal line of bill, throat colour, tone of green around breast and head and extent of black on bill:

Subspecies virescens
Photo by Jim Crosswell
Finca Oro, Costa Rica, February 2008

• dimidiatus with black throat, also smallest subspecies
• atrogularis with black throat
• griseigularis with grey throat
• phaeolaemus with blue-grey throat
• cyanolaemus with blue throat and almost all black bill
• cognatus and caeruleogularis with blue to violet throat
• warneri with yellow wash on throat and auriculars
• albivitta with white throat, white basal bill lne and a lot of blue around the eye
• wagleri with yellower crown and pale breast with blue tinge

Sexes similar but females have shorter bills.

[edit] Distribution

Found from south Mexico south to Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and western Brazil.

Subspecies griseigularis
Photo by Pitter
Dapa-Valle, Colombia, May 20084

Locally common in parts of its range.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies

14 to 16 subspecies recognized which are sometimes split into 7 species^[1]:

• Wagler's Toucanet:
  • A. p. wagleri - in southwest Mexico
• Emerald Toucanet:
  • A. p. prasinus - from east Mexico to Belize and northern Guatemala
  • A. p. warneri - in southeast Mexico
  • A. p. virescens - from southeast Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua (includes chiapensis and stenorhabdus)
  • A. p. volcanicus - in eastern El Salvador
• Blue-throated Toucanet:
  • A. p. caeruleogularis - from Costa Rica to western Panama (includes maxillaris)
• Violet-throated Toucanet
  • A. p. cognatus - from Panama to western Colombia
• Santa Marta Toucanet:
  • A. p. lautus - in northeast Colombia

Subspecies prasinus
Photo by Raul Padilla
La Mision, Mexico, june 2010

• Andean Toucanet
  • A. p. albivitta - from western Venezuela to Colombia and Ecuador
  • A. p. griseigularis - in Colombia
  • A. p. phaeolaemus - in Colombia
• Black-throated Toucanet:
  • A. p. cyanolaemus - in south Ecuador and north Peru
  • A. p. atrogularis - from northern Peru to central Bolivia
  • A. p. dimidiatus - from eastern Peru to western Brazil and northern Bolivia

[edit] Habitat

Open woodland and humid forest. Locally up to 3700m.

[edit] Behaviour

Subspecies albivitta
Photo by Oregonian
Jardin, Antioquia, Colombia, November 2007

The diet includes mainly fruit, but some insects, lizards, and bird eggs are also taken. Forages usually singly, sometimes in groups.
Breeding generally from March to July, locally starting in February and lasting to November. They nest in an unlined cavity in a tree; 3-4 white eggs are laid and incubated by both sexes for 14–15 days. Both parents care for the young which fledge after about 6 weeks.

[edit] References

1. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 2002. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 7: Jacamars to Woodpeckers. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334375
2. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist

• List of references

[edit] External Links