Baby Toucans: All You Need to Know (with Pictures)

Toucans, members of the Neotropical bird family Mothidae, into five genera, only 2 of which contain birds with the common name toucans – mountain toucans and typical toucans. Two-coloured toucans, green toucans, and geraniums make up the other three genera.

Despite their differences, all of these birds have one thing in common – their large mouths.

With their friendly faces, large eyes, and signature large, brightly colored beaks, toucans are beloved around the world. This article will explore facts about baby toucans – there will be plenty of photos of baby toucans along the way!

What does the little toucan look like?

At birth, baby toucans are small, featherless, and blind. Baby toucans don’t have big mouths when they’re born, but if you look closely, you’ll find that their mouths are a little bigger than you think.

The typical little toucan looks prehistoric. They are so fragile that there is nothing they can do except wriggle around!

The chicks of many toucan species, such as the Toco toucan, are blind for two weeks or more.

A toucan’s beak grows slowly, usually over a period of several months or even a year. Although toucans grow rapidly initially, they are long-lived birds, taking about 2 to 4 years to reach full sexual maturity.

A young toucan chick

How big is a baby toucan?

Toucans range in size from the small Lettered accari, which weighs 130 grams (4.6 ounces) and is 29 centimeters (11 inches) long, to the largest toucan, the Toco Toco, which weighs 680 grams (1.50 pounds) and is 63 centimeters (25 inches) long. beak bird.

As a result, the size of small toucans also varies widely, but generally the birds are very small. Toco toucans are the largest of the toucans, and even their chicks are only a few centimeters long, giving us an idea of ​​how small the smaller toucan chicks are.

How much does a baby toucan weigh?

Toco toucan chicks weigh about 30 grams and are similar to domestic chicks. Unlike many other birds that hatch covered in down or feathers, baby toucans are born naked and blind. This makes them lighter than otherwise.

What do juvenile toucans look like?

Juvenile toucans reach skeletal maturity, which means they reach adult size and weight, after about 2 to 4 months. However, the feathers and beaks of juvenile toucans remain undeveloped for longer, possibly as long as a year or so for the largest beaked toucans like the Toco toucan.

Juvenile toucans look shaggy and scruffy, with shorter, shorter beaks. Their bills start growing rapidly around 2 months.

Green-billed toucan baby on the ground

What is the name of the little toucan?

Little toucans are simply called chicks, which is a generic word for young birds in English. There is no other word specifically for the little toucan.

What is a group of small toucans called?

There is no specific name for a group of small toucans, but a group of toucans is usually called a “flock”, or rarely a “durante”.

Toucans are generally very gregarious, tending to gather with about 6 to 50 other mate-seeking pairs. During the breeding season, they tend to become more solitary.

Toucans are known for being playful – keelbilled toucans will even “play catch” by throwing berries into each other’s beaks!

Many toucans have been known to have partners or friends whom they often play with, often using their enormous beaks to fight or bluff. That’s why they are sometimes called “Rainforest Clowns”!

little toucan in the forest

What do baby toucans eat?

A toucan’s diet is usually rich in fruit and seeds, usually consisting of about 90% forest fruits and berries. They are still technically omnivorous and will eat worms, insects, and even small mammals and lizards.

Toucan parents feed their chicks berries and other soft forest foods that are often partially digested and regurgitated into their beaks. They are often found carefully holding berries at the tip of their beaks when feeding them to their chicks.

Believe it or not, toucans have a dark side too – they’re good at stealing eggs from other birds’ nests, and possibly even eating chicks. This is facilitated by their long bills which allow them to reach into the nests of smaller birds.

Red-breasted toucans feeding their chicks

How do toucans feed their young?

Toucan chicks enjoy biparental care, which means that both parents care for the chicks after they leave the nest by incubating, feeding and raising them. Parents feed the chicks soft foods, such as fruits and berries, which are regurgitated until the chicks are able to eat harder foods.

Depending on the species, toucans are either monogamous or serially monogamous, meaning they stay with a mate for at least the entire breeding season before finding a new mate.

Toucans feeding their chicks

What do toucan eggs look like?

Toucan eggs are usually smooth and dull white. Most medium-to-large members of the toucan family lay eggs about 4 centimeters (1.5 inches) long—relatively small for a bird of its size.

Eggs of some toucan species have dimpled grooves running longitudinally across the egg, but no other distinctive features.

How long does it take for a toucan egg to hatch?

Since toucans live in warm tropical climates, toucan eggs only need to incubate for 16 to 20 days before they can hatch. This rapid incubation period does also explain why baby toucans are so underdeveloped after hatching. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs.

Nest of a red-breasted toucan (Ramphastos dicolorus), with chicks

When Do Toucans Lay Eggs?

Most toucans breed between March and October, peaking around May and spring.

This varies by region; for example, keel-billed toucans breed from March to June in Costa Rica and April in Panama, generally opting for the drier months when possible with stable weather. Other members of the toucan family, such as toucans, start breeding as early as December and may even raise two young if the first chick is successful early in the season, although this is rare.

When can baby toucans fly?

The baby toucans are still fledglings and spend quite a bit of time in the nest, 40 to 60 days, mostly because they were born blind and immature, and need to grow quite large before venturing out.

Typically, toucan babies start flying between 45 and 50 days old.

A young toucan baby on the ground

When do baby toucans leave the nest?

Toucans will molt from the nest as early as 40 days, but this may extend to 60 days in some cases. Young toucans will initially leave the nest to perch on a nearby branch, or survey their surroundings briefly without getting too far from their parents.

The fledgling parental care can continue for another 2 to 3 months. After that, toucans may leave the nesting grounds and join the flock, but may remain very close to their parents until the end of the year. Toucans do not migrate, and many species do not travel very far from their birthplace.

Do toucans reuse nests?

Toucans reuse nests if brooding is successful. Otherwise, they create a new nest about six weeks before they intend to breed, giving them plenty of time to find a suitable tree hole.

Toucans typically nest in tree cavities, but don’t usually dig their nests with their large beaks (although green toucans have been observed doing so). Instead, they plan ahead and find suitable tree cavities for soft grass.

Emerald toucans in their nest in Tikal, Guatemala

How long do baby toucans stay with their parents?

Baby toucans are raised by both parents for about 40 to 60 days until they fly out of the nest, but the parental care doesn’t stop there.

The parents will continue to feed the chicks and tend them around the nest for about 2 to 4 months, the chicks may stay longer at the nesting site.

Toucan parents are hardworking and loving, taking turns hatching and feeding the chicks. They are also very hygienic and will regularly clean the nest of any debris or droppings, which helps reduce the chance of infection.

How long does it take for toucan bills to grow up?

Toucans have huge mouths, 3 or 4 times bigger than their heads! There are many theories as to why they have these large bills, and Darwin suggested it helps male birds attract mates. Ornithologists later argued that their beaks must have also served a practical purpose, allowing the bird to pry berries and fruit from trees.

A recent study found that because toucans’ beaks take up about 40 percent of their surface area, they actually act as a giant heat sink, allowing them to effectively cool off on hot days.

It takes several months for a toucan’s beak to develop, usually up to a year or so for large-billed species like the toco toucan. Interestingly, the researchers also found that juvenile toucans were less efficient at dissipating heat through their beaks than adults because they were less adept at regulating blood flow to their beaks.