Emerald Toucanet

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

Aulacorhynchus prasinus

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

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:

• 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.

Subspecies virescens
Photo by Jim Crosswell
Finca Oro, Costa Rica

Distribution

Found from south Mexico south to Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and western Brazil.
Locally common in parts of its range.

Taxonomy

14 subspecies recognized which are sometimes split into 7 species:

• 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

Subspecies griseigularis
Photo by Pitter
Dapa-Valle, Colombia

• Santa Marta Toucanet:
  • A. p. lautus - in northeast Colombia
• 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

Habitat

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

Behaviour

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.

Subspecies albivitta
Photo by Oregonian
Jardin, Antioquia, Colombia

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, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Emerald Toucanet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Emerald_Toucanet

External Links

Search for photos of Emerald Toucanet in the gallery