The tawny-tufted toucanet (''Selenidera nattereri'') is a

near-passerine Near passerines and higher land-bird assemblage are terms of traditional, pre-cladistic taxonomy that have often been given to tree-dwelling birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines (order Passeriformes) owing to mor ...

bird in the toucan family

Ramphastidae Toucans (, ) are Neotropical birds in the family Ramphastidae. They are most closely related to the Toucan barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over 40 different species. ...

. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and possible Guyana.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The tawny-tufted toucanet was originally described in the genus '' Pteroglossus''. It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

Description

The tawny-tufted toucanet is long and weighs . Males and females have the same bill pattern but the female's bill is shorter. The bill has a vertical red line at its base. Its culmen is green to lime green; the rest of the

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

is red but for a blue patch near the base and pale "teeth" along the

tomium In anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is ...

. The

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

is mostly brownish red (sometimes greenish horn-colored) with a blue patch near the base, a green tip, and vertical white lines along the mid section. Both sexes have pale blue bare skin around the eye and a yellow to tawny tuft of feathers behind it. Males have a black head, nape, chin, throat, and belly. Their upperparts are green with a yellow band on the lower neck. Their tail is green with chestnut tips on the central three pairs of feathers. Their flanks are yellow to rusty and their undertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

are red. Females have a chestnut crown to the shoulders, a rusty chin and belly, greenish yellow flanks, and paler facial skin and tuft than males.Short, L.L. (2020). Tawny-tufted Toucanet (''Selenidera nattereri''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.tattou1.01 retrieved December 28, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The tawny-tufted toucanet is patchily distributed from extreme eastern Colombia through southern Venezuela into northwestern Brazil north of the Solimões (upper Amazon) River as far east as the upper Rio Negro. Unconfirmed sight records in Guyana lead the South American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

to call it hypothetical in that country. It inhabits forests, usually those on sandy soil and near waterways.

Behavior

Movement

As far as is known, the tawny-tufted toucanet is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The tawny-tufted toucanet's diet is known to include fruit but nothing else is known about its diet or foraging habits.

Breeding

The tawny-tufted toucanet's breeding season is thought to be between April and November but might start in March and extend only to May. Its nest, eggs, incubation period, and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

The tawny-tufted toucanet makes "grown-like, croaking, 'ggruuukk' notes" that may last 10 to 15 seconds. It also makes a "more rattling version, 'dddrik-'".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the tawny-tufted toucanet as being of Least Concern. It has a large range but its population size and trend are not known. No immediate threats have been identified. "Data reurgently needed on its habitat and feeding requirements, as well as on its breeding biology and behaviour."