The Black-mandibled Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus) is a large toucan from northern South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. Its distribution ranges along the eastern slope of the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 from Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, north through Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

 and Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, to Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 as far as the coastal ranges

Venezuelan Coastal Range

The Venezuelan Coastal Range is a mountain range that runs along the central and eastern portions of Venezuela's northern coast...

.

It lives at altitudes of 100-2400 m. in humid montane

Montane

In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...

 forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s, with a preference for the canopy

Canopy (forest)

In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by plant crowns.For forests, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns and including other biological organisms .Sometimes the term canopy is used to refer to the extent...

 and edge. It generally occurs at higher elevations (generally above 1000 m) than other Ramphastos toucans and competes directly with the similarly-sized White-throated Toucan

White-throated Toucan

The White-throated Toucan is a near-passerine bird found throughout the Amazon in south-eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, northern Bolivia, southern and eastern Venezuela, northern and western Brazil, including the Amazon Basin's adjacent Tocantins-Araguaia River drainage, and the...

 where they overlap. Black-mandibleds are most common in areas where White-throateds are rare, and vica versa.

The Black-mandibled Toucan at one time was considered closely related to the Choco Toucan

Choco Toucan

The Choco Toucan is a large, mainly black bird found in humid lowland and foothill forests on the Pacific slope of Colombia and Ecuador...

 but is only distantly related per genetics. However, it is considered very closely related to the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan

The Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, or Swainson’s Toucan is a near-passerine bird which breeds from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia to western Ecuador. This subspecies is replaced from southern Colombia to eastern Peru by the nominate subspecies Black-mandibled Toucan, R. ambiguus ambiguus...

 and the two are sometimes considered conspecific. The Black-mandibled and Chestnut-mandibled do not overlap in the wild and are found to differ 1.35% in mitochondrial DNA.

This species has a total length of 47-61 cm (19-24 in) and weighs from 620 to 740 grams (1.4-1.6 lbs). The beak

Beak

The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...

measures approximately 18 cm. Little to nothing is known about the Black-mandibled Toucan's behavior or life history but it is generally predicted to mirror that of the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan.

External links

• Bibliography of online, ornithological articles which explore the natural history of the Black-mandibled toucan, Ramphastos ambiguus ambiguus.
• "Ramphastos ambiguus" videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/tree on Neotropic Birds