"Toucan Sam" might be the most famous toucan, but the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) is the one you're most likely to see during a visit to the zoo. This particular species prefers more open habitats than other related species which prefer closed forest, and it may be that the toco toucan ultimately benefits from reductions in closed forest. This isn't to say that we should stop caring about South American rain forests, only that some species will certainly take advantage of the changing situation. The pair pictured above were photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
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tags: London England, London Zoo, sciblog, zoological gardens, travel
Entrance, London Zoo.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 September 2008 [larger view].
After a leisurely morning walk through part of London's Regents Park, Bob O'Hara and I then spent the rest of the day at the London Zoo.
The London…
I love toucans. There's a monster of a toucan at the Topeka zoo, and it runs its beak along the front of its pen (it's not always in its pen) to make a rattling noise. It seems to like the sound.
"Toucan Sam" might be well known to Americans, but the most famous one this side of the pond is the one from the 1940s Guinness adverts, who was a Toco Toucan.