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THE TOUCAN - BY KRYSTAL
http://www.abc-kid.com/toucan/index6.html The toucan is a very colourful
bird that has many wonderful qualities. It can live in a few different
places, though it is well known to be found in the Amazon Rainforest
in Brazil. The damage that has been done and that is continuing to be
done to the rainforest is not only taking away much of our needed oxygen
but is also ruining the habitat for many species. This has been happening
ever since the forest first began, and is still continued until this
day. People are ruining the rainforest
for their own purposes, such as for agriculture. It wouldn’t be
as big of a deal if they only used a small portion, which they did at
first. Then, after a few years, the land can’t be used again, so
they have to move to a new spot of land and keep cutting more and more
down, till there is nothing left. We should still try and fix this problem
because we need the rainforest and so does the toucan and many other
extraordinary animals. The only problem is that it would be an amazing
amount of work to solve such a large problem. There are approximately
forty different kinds of toucans and the Keel-billed Toucan is just
one of them. It’s also known as Ramphastos sulfuratus and is the
national bird of Belize, where it attracts many tourists, who visit
just to see them. The first thing that people
notice when they look at a Keel-billed Toucan is its enormous banana
shaped bill. It consists of many colours and is up to one third of its
length. This bill amazingly enough, is very lightweight, due to air
pockets. Males are usually slightly larger than the females, but their
colours are quite similar. The toucan has many colours besides its bill
though, such as its astonishing blue legs. Most of the body is black
except for its red under tail and the yellow chest, throat and face.
It has a total of eight toes, four on each foot. On each foot, two face
the front and two face the back. Its whole body is about 20 inches (50
cm) long. Since the Keel-billed Toucan lives in lowland forests and on forest borders, it eats a variety of things such as: bird eggs, insects, and tree frogs. However, it mostly eats fruit, where it will swallow it whole then regurgitate the seeds. It will rarely fly down to eat from shrubs or catch other types of food.
Keel-billed Toucans often
travel in flocks of six to twelve adults. When they become crowded staying
in the tree cavities, then they make room by folding their tail over
their back, and placing their beak under its wing. While flying, they
flap their wings for a period of time and then glide. This does not
let them travel long distances. Their call sounds like the croak of
a tree frog. Since the toucan is not
directly threatened, it is not given the drastic measures the endangered
animals are, but at least it gets to be monitored. In certain areas
it is very scarce because of hunting, which can be either to eat it
or are for ornaments. The feathers are very appealing to some and have
been used as ornaments for a long time. Also, at one time, toucans were
taken from the wild and kept as pets. Even now in some places of Guatemala,
Costa Rica and Belize, the Keel-billed Toucan is free to fly around
peoples homes whenever it likes.
http://www.whozoo.org/students/jenthu/toucan.html Bibliography Internet
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