Toucans: Their Predators

A bird glides overhead.  What could it be?  It’s a toucan!  A toucan’s feathers provide camouflage.  Hawks, eagles, owls, boas, jaguars, and margays enjoy eating toucans.

Thick green rainforests are a perfect habitat for animals. To protect themselves, toucans will use their loud voice to scare enemies away.  When toucans sleep they turn their heads backward, place their bill on their back and finally tip their tail over the bill and go to sleep. Toucans are very colorful birds.  They can be mistaken for flowers or fruit.  A toucan’s bill is about a third of the size of its body.  The bill is colorful and bright red on the inside.  Predators will think twice about before disturbing these colorful birds.

However, if a predator discovers a toucan’s nest, the toucan will flee rather than fight, abandoning its eggs.  This doesn’t seem smart but a toucan has no chance in a fight.  In the wild, snakes, weasles, and rats like to eat toucans’ eggs.

Humans are also a toucan’s predator.  Toucans make a pet for people.  They can’t talk like parrots but are smart and colorful birds.  Some toucans are raised in cages. They can be taught tricks such as rolling over or playing catch.