📸 PhotoPhoto: Ttschleuder · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Keel-billed Toucan
Ramphastos sulfuratus (Keel-billed Toucan · サンショクキムネオオハシ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its body length of 52 cm exceeds one and a half sheets of A4 paper along the long side (29.7 cm), and its weight of 400 g is about six or seven chicken eggs (about 60 g) (Comparison).
- 💡 As the national bird of Belize, it attracts tourism; the cereal mascot 'Toucan Sam' is sometimes introduced as this species, though inaccurately.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Keel-billed Toucan is a colorful toucan living in lowland forests of Central America and is the national bird of Belize. Its IUCN status is Near Threatened (NT).
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its large banana-shaped bill grows up to 1/3 of its body length, yet is hollow and supported by bone struts, making it surprisingly light. Its edges have tooth-like serrations, a long narrow feather-like tongue sits inside, and its body is black with a bright yellow bib.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds mainly on fruit and also eats the eggs and chicks of other birds, insects, small lizards, and tree frogs. It regurgitates large seeds and passes small seeds in its droppings to disperse them far away, moves in flocks of 6–12, and lays 2–4 eggs in tree hollows, incubating them for 16–20 days.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List NT (2021) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22682102/168670038
- • IUCN Red List category NT — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 168670038
- • wikidata.org — Q47501
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Keel billed toucan costa rica (cropped).jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Ramphastos sulfuratus
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Gabriela Palomo-Munoz · CC BY 4.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.