8 Facts About Toucans That Prove What Weird Birds They Are
You know those black birds with giant orange beaks that are usually drawn on all exotic juice labels? Well, they’re called toucans and despite looking like mother nature pressed “Random” when designing them, they’re actually pretty cool – and pretty weird.
A while ago, a few Tumblr shared some interesting toucan facts that prove just how weird the little birds are. Giant beaks, tiny bodies, and even weirder tongues – check out the most interesting toucan facts in the gallery below!
A while ago, Tumblr users shared some interesting facts about toucans
Image credits: cryptid-quartz
Image credits: prokopetz
Image credits: worriedaboutmyfern
And you thought harpy eagles were weird – well, toucan play this game.
Toucan beaks actually have their own network of blood vessels that the birds use to cool themselves
Image credits: mygrapefruit
Just look at these goofy baby toucans
Image credits: zoogeo
Too cute!
Image credits: Lowcrbnaman
There are 5 different genera of toucans: Ramphastos (typical toucans), Andigena (mountain toucans), Selenidera (dichromatic toucanets), Pteroglossus (araçaris), and Aulacorhynchus (green toucanets).
Even stranger than its beak is a toucan’s tongue – it looks oddly like a feather and can reach lengths up to 6 inches (15 centimeters)
Image credits: ThePocketGamer
Toucan beaks are actually rather light due to the many little air holes
Image credits: Charles J Sharp
Image credits: DR. VECTOR
The name “toucan” comes from the extinct language of the Tupi people of Brazil who used to call the birds “tukana”.
Here’s how a toucan’s beak looks on x-ray
Image credits: timmy6169
The rainbow-billed toucan is Belize’s national bird
Image credits: Andy Morffew
Image credits: Basa Roland
Image credits: Charles J Sharp
While these birds mostly eat fruit, they’re called “opportunistically omnivorous”, meaning they’ll eat small animals and insects in order to survive. Imagine getting lost in the jungle and getting attacked by a hungry toucan! We’re kidding of course – unless you’re a lizard, in which case, don’t get lost in the jungle around hungry toucans.
People had some funny toucan jokes up their sleeves
Got wisdom to pour?
Picture of 3 baby toucans not credit photo credit, Picture taken by Chris Estep aka Toucan Jungle NOT zoogen