Southern Emerald Toucanet

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

Aulacorhynchus albivitta

Includes: Andean Toucanet; Black-throated Toucanet; Santa Marta Toucanet

Identification

30-35cm (11¾-13¾ in).

• 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

Variations

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
• albivitta with white throat, white basal bill lne and a lot of blue around the eye

Sexes similar but females have shorter bills.

Distribution

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

Locally common in parts of its range.

Taxonomy

Formerly considered conspecific with Northern Emerald Toucanet under the name Emerald Toucanet. Gill and Donsker further split this species into White-throated Toucanet (lautus, griseigularis, albivitta and phaeolaemus) and Black-throated Toucanet.

Subspecies

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

Subspecies cyanolaemus
Photo by Pepe_Rojas
Maranhon, Peru

Clements recognizes 7 subspecies in four groups^[2]:

• Santa Marta Toucanet:
  • A. a. lautus - Santa Marta Mountains in north east Colombia
• Gray-throated Toucanet
  • A. a. griseigularis - northern end of West Andes and western slope of Central Andes of Colombia
• Andean Toucanet
  • A. a. albivitta - East and Central Andes of Colombia, eastern Ecuador and western Venezuela
  • A. a. phaeolaemus - subtropical West Andes of Colombia
• Black-throated Toucanet:
  • A. a. cyanolaemus - Subtropical Andes of south east Ecuador and northern Peru
  • A. a. atrogularis - Humid Andes of eastern Peru and northern Bolivia
  • A. a. dimidiatus - Subtropical Andes of northern Peru

Habitat

Nominate subspecies albivitta
Photo by Stanley Jones
Cosanga, Napo Province, Ecuador, January 2016

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

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of fruit, but some insects, lizards, and bird eggs are also taken. Forages usually singly, sometimes in groups.

Breeding

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.

Santa Marta Toucanet, subspecies lautus
Photo by max1
Santa Marta mountains, Colombia, February 2016

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, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
3. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2016. IOC World Bird Names (version 6.4). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Southern Emerald Toucanet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Southern_Emerald_Toucanet

External Links

Search for photos of Southern Emerald Toucanet in the gallery