Blue-banded Toucanet
Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis
Small green toucan of humid montane forest. Blue chest band is distinctive but can be difficult to see; notice also the bluish coloration in its face and bill and the yellowish bill tip. Forages singly or in pairs through the short canopy of high elevation forest, occasionally associating with mixed-species flocks, especially with other larger birds like barbets and foliage-gleaners. Listen for an even-paced series of low, grating “grrok” notes.
Identification
The blue-banded toucanet is 40 to 44 cm (16 to 17 in) long and weighs 173 to 257 g (6.1 to 9.1 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults have a bluish horn-colored bill. Their plumage is mostly green with a red rump, white throat, a diffuse blue band across the chest, and greenish-yellow undertail coverts. They have a blue and white supercilium and some pale blue below the eye. Their eye can be any color from white through yellow to reddish brown and is surrounded by bare dark grayish skin. Their tail is mostly green with rusty tips on the central feathers. Immatures are duller than adults but otherwise similar.
Taxonomy
The blue-banded toucanet is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis
- Authority
- d'Orbigny, 1840
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Ramphastidae
- Genus
- Aulacorhynchus
Range and habitat
The blue-banded toucanet is mostly found on the east slope of the Andes from central Peru's Department of Huánuco south to Santa Cruz Department in Bolivia. It also occurs in a few isolated areas further east. It inhabits moist subtropical montane forest and cloudforest. In elevation it is known between 1,470 and 3,050 m (4,800 and 10,000 ft) but is usually found from 1,600 to 2,500 m (5,200 to 8,200 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The blue-banded toucanet's movements, if any, are not known.<p>The blue-banded toucanet forages at all levels of the forest, alone, in pairs, or in a small group. Its diet not well known but is primarily fruit and also includes insects and other arthropods.<p>The yellow-browed toucanet's nesting season appears to span from January to April or later in Peru and from August to January in Bolivia. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.<p>The blue-banded toucanet's song is "a series of barking, growling, variable notes, 'kunnk' to 'krakk'". It also makes "various rattle calls, 'kyak' yelps, a 'kra-a-a' and 'gek-ek-ek' compound notes."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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