toucan, perching bird of the New World tropics, related to the woodpeckers. Toucans vary in size from the jay-sized toucanets to the 24-in. (62-cm) tocos of the Amazon basin. They are notable for their enormous, often brightly colored, canoe-shaped bills, which consist of a lightweight porous substance covered by a horny shell with serrated edges. This bill is well adapted to cutting up the fruits and berries that form their diet. Most brilliantly plumaged are the aracaris and hill toucans of the mountain forests of South America. Toucans are gregarious and, like the woodpeckers, nest in cavities. Toucans are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Piciformes, family Rhamphastidae.

Any of about 40 species (family Ramphastidae) of large-billed, long-tailed Central and South American birds. Many species are black with a bold breast colour; their thick, saw-edged bills are brightly and distinctively coloured. Bands of toucans emit loud barks, bugling calls, and harsh croaks. They eat fruit, insects, lizards, and nestling birds. Toucans deposit two to four eggs in an unlined natural tree cavity or an abandoned woodpecker hole. Ramphastos species are up to 24 in. (60 cm) long, a third of which may be the bill. Smaller species (toucanets) are 10–14 in. (25–35 cm) long.

Learn more about toucan with a free trial on Britannica.com.