Our small group had walked for an hour in extreme humidity and climbed a rickety, wooden tower to be at the height of the tree-tops. We'd been standing around for a further hour with little activity when a toucan fluttered into a far branch. The photo is taken at maximum zoom, scanned in and then zoomed some more with Photoshop, which makes it a little bit hazy. But the excitement of seeing this most iconic South American bird with its oversized beak and colourful plumage was something I will always remember. A few minutes later it flew away but those few minutes are to be treasured.
We were told it was a red bill toucan but given that the bill is black, yellow and blue and that the only red is a small dash on its breast and tail, I've never been very convinced. Maybe someone who knows their toucans can confirm which species of toucan it actually is.
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Sunday, September 28, 2008
Photo of the Week - Toucan (South America)
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3 comments:
Awwwww... It's beautiful. You have a list of Toucans at this site - I think your is most alike the Red bill.
I love birds. We saw some wild common Toucans nearby Iguazu falls. You can see our (not so good photo either ;-) here:
Lifecruiser wild Toucan photo
@lifecruiser: I like your photo much more. They are amazing looking birds. I'll search more for what species it really is and publish. Maybe it is the red-bill but it does seem a strange name for it.
Yes, it really does look like it!
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