When young children try to draw birds, they often portray them with hypertrophied features. And then huge wings, eyes or beaks appear in the drawing. In the latter case, the kids may not be so wrong. It is possible that their drawing depicts an unusual bird - a toucan. It is her who can often be seen in pictures with tropical forests. She is actually a symbol of such a climate.
But besides its fame as a tropical resident, the toucan is very, very interesting. Moreover, it is unique. So, how is the toucan bird so different from its many feathered counterparts?
Useful information
For starters, a little help from ornithology. Is there really such a unique toucan bird? A description of its unusual appearance should begin with the most remarkable part - the beak. And he is really outstanding at the toucan. Both literally and figuratively. It will be more accurate to say, not with a toucan, but with toucans. Indeed, under this same name hides more than 30 species of birds belonging to 6 genera. They are called Tukanovye. Although they belong, surprisingly, to the order Woodpeckers. But the most charismatic representative, a large toucan, gained popularity from all these birds. It is also sometimes called "Toko." And the name of the toucan bird received from its cry, which practically reproduces this word.
Where does it live?
Of course, Toko does not occur in our area. Toucan bird habitat - thickets of rainforest. She is a familiar resident of the entire territory of Central and South America - from the north of Mexico to the south of Argentina. Sometimes you can also meet a Toko bird in the mountains - it can easily live at an altitude of up to 3000 meters above sea level. At the same time, the toucan, the darkest and darkest, does not like the toucan. But light forest edges, groves not far from human habitation, palm tops - this is his favorite habitat. By the way, in countries located in the tropical zone, toucan is found on the streets about as often as a dove in central Russia.
Vote
But unlike the pigeon, Toko is a very, very unusual representative of the feathered kingdom. The description of the toucan bird should begin with its voice. If you want to hear the real call of the jungle, just listen to Toko singing. He masterfully knows how to not only shout his victorious cry “tokano!”, But also to parody many inhabitants of the tropics, and so that any parrot will be envied. Although, in general, the voice of this bird is far from angelic. In addition, he also knows how to emit characteristic clicks with his beak. But there is a special conversation about him.
Beak - the pride of a bird
What the toucan bird is known to everyone is its simply giant beak. It can reach a size of 20 cm, which is about one third of the total size of the current. It itself is about 60 cm in size - of course, we are talking about a large toucan, the largest representative of his species. The rest can be much smaller, and sometimes do not exceed the size of the most common of its relative - a woodpecker.
With its rather large size, the toucan's beak is very light. It represents a real achievement of engineering, only embodied not by man, but by nature itself. Firstly, it has notches along the edges, similar to a saw blade, helping the toucan get his food. Secondly, it is very light - because, unlike other birds, Toko does not have a monolithic goiter, but a hollow one. Nature provides for the presence of cavities from bone tissue and keratin membranes in it.
With all this, it is not only lightweight, but also very durable. And its remarkable bright orange color makes the toucan noticeable even when this bird is silent. But Toko's body is very awkward - large, covered with hard feathers. But then any fashionista can imitate his color scheme. How is the toucan bird painted? You saw her photo more than once in books. Outwardly, it is a strict bird, which seems to be dressed in a frock coat and white shirt. This leaves an impression of black plumage and a bright white Toko collar.
But if you look closely, you can notice the piquant features that are visible behind the severity - tail feathers red below, bright blue rims around the eyes, a tongue of a peculiar feathery shape. This coloring completely coincides with the nature of the toucan - for all their bulkiness and massiveness, they are very curious and lively birds. And their habits also deserve a separate story.
To begin with, toucans fly very badly. They prefer to sit in hollow tree trunks most of the day. There they equip their nest. Toko are companion birds, and live in pairs or small groups. Sometimes they can arrange their life also in termite mounds or shallow pits on the banks of the river. In addition, Toko are just wonderful parents. They take care of the offspring as a couple, raise 2-4 chicks, and only once a year.
Interesting
Scientists have long thought why a toucan needs such a big beak? It seems that they are not predators - they eat fruits and small insects. It is also unlikely that they will be able to defend themselves from enemies - it is very light, and the toucan’s enemies are such that they have no beak — predators. Unless he can frighten him. But, as it turned out, a unique form, as well as an unusual language, were simply created for cracking fruits of passion fruit or figs. And also for tossing berries - one Toko tears the fruit from the branch and throws it, and the second catches.
You may ask how the toucan manages to sleep with such a large beak? Does he outweigh the relaxed bird? No, everything is much more interesting - the anatomy of Toko was created by nature very thoughtfully - its head rotates perfectly 180 degrees, and the beak is comfortably located on the back between the wings. Moreover, at night the whole flock sleeps in one hollow. They take turns getting in there with their backs on which the beak is already laid. Then each Toko presses its tail to its stomach, its head to its chest, it all turns its wings and turns into a cozy feathered ball.
