Keel-billed Toucan
Ramphastos sulfuratus

A nice close-up of a Keel-billed Toucan.

On my first trip to Panama, in August 2003, I had only distant looks at the beautiful Keel-billed Toucan, so I was thrilled when one year and one month later, I enjoyed close-range looks from the viewing platform at Panama's Canopy Tower. The prevailing opinion of neotropical ornithologists holds that wherever there are two large toucan species present in the same region (in this case, the second species is the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan), one is a "yelper" and the other a "croaker". For the record, in this case the Keel-billed Toucan is a croaker...  


A good perspective of the Keel-billed Toucan, full-body shot.

Note the red at the base of the tail of this Keel-billed Toucan, and trait shared with the other large toucans in this region.

The Keel-billed Toucan searches for food.

In the summer of 2005 the Keel-billed Toucan was the "featured" toucan at the Canopy Tower, the species that provided the most thrilling views. Most interesting was an individual, pictured below, that possessed a cracked lower left mandible. The crack did not extend to the right side, and the bird seemed to be feeding quite fine, as evidenced by the fun shot of it tossing back a chunk of cecropia fruit.  


A favorite image, of a Keel-billed Toucan preening.


A great close-up of a wounded Keel-billed Toucan. A Keel-billed Toucan tosses back a tasty morsel.  


On my 2005 visit to the Canopy Tower, a troupe of Geoffroy's Tanarins appeared almost like clockwork every afternoon just after lunch, making their rounds of fruit-bearing trees. On one such occasion a few toucans were also present, giving me the opportunity to film these two handsome neotropical animals sharing a bit of arboreal real estate.  


Just hangin' around the ol' cecropia; a Keel-billed Toucan and a Geoffroy's Tamarin.


The image below is comparatively modest, of a Keel-billed Toucan high in a tree at the start of Old Gamboa Road, filmed in January of 2007, on New Year's Day. I captured this bird's voice quite well as it croaked repeatedly in counter-call to another unseen bird. This view of the toucan is more typical of what one can expect to see away from the unusual environment of the Canopy Tower.  


A Keel-billed Toucan croaking away from a high perch.

Elsewhere on this site:
Panama Journal, 2004.

Birds of Panama 1, 2004.

Birds of Panama, 2005.

Panama Tour Journal, 2005.

Birds of Panama, January 2007.

Return to Bird Species Index

Copyright© Ken Allaire. All rights reserved. Reproduction, modification, or republication of the images or content contained herein without authorization for any purpose or to produce any product is a violation of the copyright herein and is strictly prohibited.