Ramphastos tucanus Linnaeus, 1758

Common Name & Traits

This species, commonly called the white-throated red-billed toucan, shares key traits with other toucans: it is brightly patterned and has an exceptionally large maroon bill.

Body Length

Its total body length ranges from 50 to 61 cm (19.5 to 24 in).

Adult Weight

Adult body weight varies between 425 and 830 g (0.937 to 1.830 lb).

Sexual Size Dimorphism

On average, males are slightly larger than females, with a mean mass of 642 g (1.415 lb) compared to the female average of 580 g (1.28 lb).

Subspecies Weight

The subspecies Ramphastos tucanus cuvieri is larger than the nominate subspecies, with males averaging 702 g (1.548 lb) and females averaging 687 g (1.515 lb).

Standard Morphometrics

Standard measurements for the species are as follows: wing chord 20.4 to 26.5 cm (8.0 to 10.4 in), bill 12.2 to 22 cm (4.8 to 8.7 in), tail 13.3 to 16.8 cm (5.2 to 6.6 in), and tarsus 4.5 to 5.6 cm (1.8 to 2.2 in).

Size Comparison to Other Toucans

Only the toco toucan grows larger than the white-throated red-billed toucan overall, but the R. t. cuvieri subspecies may be even heavier than the toco toucan.

Body Plumage

This toucan has black body plumage, with a white throat and upper breast marked below by a narrow red stripe.

Rump & Crissum Color

Its rump is bright yellow, and the crissum (the area surrounding the cloaca) is red.

Facial Skin Color

The bare skin around its eye is blue.

Bill Coloration

The bill has yellow coloration on its tip, upper ridge, and the base of the upper mandible, while the base of the lower mandible is blue.

Subspecies Bill Color Differences

For R. t. cuvieri, the remaining area of the bill is mainly black; for the nominate subspecies R. t. tucanus, the remaining bill area is mainly reddish-brown.

Intergrade Bill Color

Intergrades between the two subspecies show mixed bill coloration.

Sexual Plumage Similarity

Apart from their larger size and longer bills, male and female white-throated red-billed toucans look identical.

Juvenile Appearance

Juvenile white-throated red-billed toucans have noticeably shorter bills, a darker sooty-black plumage, and overall duller feather coloration than adults.

Similarity to Channel-Billed Toucan

The R. t. cuvieri subspecies is nearly identical in appearance to the culminatus subspecies of the related channel-billed toucan.

Morphological Differences from Channel-Billed Toucan

The channel-billed toucan is smaller in size, has a proportionally shorter bill with a more strongly keeled culmen, and differs from the white-throated red-billed toucan in its call.

Vocalization Differences

The white-throated red-billed toucan produces a yelping eeoo, hue hue call, and has one of the loudest calls of any toucan, while the channel-billed toucan has a croaking song.