Toucans live in South and Central America. Making their homes in holes and small trees, toucans fly through the canopy of the tropical rainforest. They prefer to live in pairs or in small flocks.
A toucan is a popular pet and is a familiar commercial mascot. Toucans vary in size, with 40 different types ranging from 7 inches tall to over 2 feet tall. Their colorful bills come in a rainbow of colors. They may be black, blue, brown, green, red, white, yellow or a combination of these colors. Used to attract a mate, the bill is also a useful feeding tool, helping the toucan reach deep into a tree to locate its prey. The bill keeps the toucan cool by expanding internal arteries and releasing heat into the environment. Though the bill is large, it is lightweight, made of a spongy substance called keratin. An advantage in flight, the lightweight design is a negative in combat.
Toucan chicks are very small. They are born without any down in clutches of two to four chicks once a year. The chicks lack the large bill of the parent, developing it as they grow older. Both parents protect the chicks until they reach maturity.
