About Ramphastos tucanus Linnaeus, 1758
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. Its total body length ranges from 50 to 61 cm (19.5 to 24 in). Adult body weight varies between 425 and 830 g (0.937 to 1.830 lb). 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). 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 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). 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. This toucan has black body plumage, with a white throat and upper breast marked below by a narrow red stripe. Its rump is bright yellow, and the crissum (the area surrounding the cloaca) is red. The bare skin around its eye is blue. 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. 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. Intergrades between the two subspecies show mixed bill coloration. Apart from their larger size and longer bills, male and female white-throated red-billed toucans look identical. Juvenile white-throated red-billed toucans have noticeably shorter bills, a darker sooty-black plumage, and overall duller feather coloration than adults. The R. t. cuvieri subspecies is nearly identical in appearance to the culminatus subspecies of the related 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. 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.
