Toucans are birds characterized by having a well-developed beak and especially colorful. They are arboreal birds, which have a strong, straight beak and a very long tongue. The legs have four fingers, two fingers directed forward and two backwards, they are classified together with woodpeckers. These birds can be found on the American continent, from North America to South America, with the exception of the United States and Canada. They owe their name to the Tupi Tucan word, one of the languages that originated in Brazil.
Although not everyone can have a toucan as a pet and it is very difficult to obtain, if you want to know what toucans eatyou will be interested in this article on our site about their diet.
Toucan digestive system
The toucan's digestive system does not have a crop, so They are not able to digest seeds, as occurs in the most birds. In this sense, care must be taken that the bird does not ingest any seeds of the fruits or vegetables on which it feeds, otherwise all the seeds will have to be removed. The stomach of toucans is small, so the food is quickly discarded after being eaten.
Specifically, it is necessary to watch the iron levels in the toucan's diet This is because they are prone to accumulate iron in the liver. To control this, the toucan's diet can be based on using papaya half of the total fruit, since it has a low iron content, in addition to being one of the favorite fruits of this beautiful animal.
Continue reading to know what the toucan eats and what are the considerations that must be taken into account so that it has a he althy and balanced diet.
Basic Toucan Diet
If you are wondering what toucans eat, they mainly eat fruit Bearing in mind that they have a digestive system that is based on absorption, as we have explained, since what they consume is discarded in a few hours. Therefore, they are herbivorous birds, although they can also feed on small birds.
Thinking specifically about what a toucan eats in terms of fruit, those suggested by experts are:
- Apple
- Cantaloupe
- Peach
- Banana
- Pear
- Mango
- Kiwi
- Papaya
- Tuna
- Strawberry
Now, what does the toucan eat in terms of vegetables? The vegetables recommended for feeding the toucan are the following.
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes
- Carrot
- Corn
- Pea
- Chayotera or guatila
Complementary diet of the toucan
The toucan's diet can also be supplemented with wholemeal bread and meat of mouse or tenebrios, this to balance the bird's diet, since their basic food must be fruits. In the wild they can consume small lizards, insects, eggs of other birds and even chicks. They use their beak as a pincer, in order to reach their food.
When feeding the toucan, you can give it half or 60% of fruit or vegetables chopped and the other half or the remaining 40% of some complementary food, always taking care of the iron levels since this can be detrimental to the multicolored bird. This food can be boiled rice dumplings with vegetables.
Once you know what toucans eat, you may be interested in this other article on Toucans as pets for more information on the subject.
Other aspects of toucan feeding
Now that you know what toucans eat, we need to mention that they are animals that don't eat muchIt is more than enough that they eat well twice a day, so that they can feel satisfied. You always have to have clean water for toucans, but they are animals that do not drink much.
These are birds that do not consume much water, thanks to the fact that the liquids they need are obtained from the fruits they eat, this is a of the reasons why the diet of toucans should be based on these foods. So don't be alarmed if a toucan doesn't want to drink, it's completely normal.
