Choco Toucan, Ramphastos brevis


Choco Toucan
My only picture, taken at great distance, of one of the classic Toucans.
These fruit-eaters with their huge bright-colored bills are emblematic birds
of the tropics of Central and South America. The exaggerated bills look
impractical, and might seem to be sexual signals like the peacock's tail,
but they are shared by both sexes; like the bill of the pelican, they have
evolved as efficient food-gathering tools.