Selenidera maculirostris
The Spot-billed Toucanet, *Selenidera maculirostris*, is a strikingly colorful, medium-sized toucanet endemic to the Atlantic Forest of South America, distinguished by its unique bill pattern and pronounced sexual dimorphism. Growing to 33-37 cm in length and weighing 156-225 g, it features a predominantly black body with a vibrant yellow post-ocular streak, a yellow flank patch, and bright red undertail-coverts. Its most distinctive feature is the bill: blue-green to dark blue at the base, w...
This toucanet primarily inhabits humid evergreen and semi-deciduous Atlantic Forest, favoring dense understory, secondary growth, and forest edges, typically at elevations from sea level up to 1800 meters.
Their diet primarily consists of a wide variety of tropical fruits, supplemented significantly by insects, spiders, and occasionally small vertebrates like lizards, bird eggs, or nestlings, all typically gleaned from foliage and branches.
Spot-billed Toucanets are diurnal, generally observed alone or in pairs, moving through the forest canopy and mid-story with agile hops and short flights. They are primarily arboreal foragers, gleaning fruits from branches and snapping up insects or small vertebrates. While territorial, they are ...
The Spot-billed Toucanet is a resident species found across a significant, albeit fragmented, portion of the Atlantic Forest biome in southeastern South America. Its primary distribution includes southeastern Brazil, extending from southern Bahia south through Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de...
Least Concern
- The 'spot' on its bill, which gives the Spot-billed Toucanet its name, is a unique yellow marking on the upper mandible, distinguishing it from other toucanets. - Unlike many toucan species, the Spot-billed Toucanet exhibits striking sexual dimorphism in its head plumage: males have a black cap...