LC
Choco Toucan Ramphastos brevis



Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
A distinctive species within the so-called “croaking group” (see R. toco). Although plumage characters suggest possible sister relationship to R. sulfuratus, genetic data indicate that present species is sister to R. vitellinus (Patané et al. 2009). Long considered to be a subspecies of R. ambiguus, but differs significantly in voice; size smaller, bill shorter with more yellow; sympatric with R. a. swainsonii. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2024 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status not a migrant Forest dependency medium
Land-mass type Average mass 412 g
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 233,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size unknown - - -
Population trend decreasing - suspected -
Generation length 6.08 years - - -

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as uncommon or locally common in Ecuador (del Hoyo et al. 2002). This species is considered to have a medium dependency on forest habitat, and tree cover is estimated to have declined by 4% within its mapped range over the past three generations (Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). Therefore, as a precautionary measure, it is tentatively suspected that this loss of cover may have led to a decline of between 1-19% in the species' population size over the same time frame.

Trend justification:   .


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Colombia extant native yes
Ecuador extant native yes
Panama extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name
Colombia Parque Nacional Natural Ensenada de Utría
Colombia Reserva Natural El Pangán
Colombia Reserva Natural Río Ñambí
Ecuador Bosque Protector Los Cedros
Ecuador Cayapas-Santiago-Wimbí
Ecuador Centro Científico Río Palenque
Ecuador Corredor Awacachi
Ecuador Intag-Toisán
Ecuador Los Bancos - Milpe
Ecuador Mache Chindul Ecological Reserve and surrouding areas (Reserva Ecológica Mache-Chindul IBA)
Ecuador Maquipucuna-Río Guayllabamba
Ecuador Mashpi-Pachijal
Ecuador Mindo and western foothills of Volcan Pichincha
Ecuador Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi-Cayapas
Ecuador Río Caoní
Ecuador Río Toachi-Chiriboga
Ecuador Territorio Étnico Awá y alrededores
Ecuador Verde-Ónzole-Cayapas-Canandé
Panama Darién National Park

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial Pastureland suitable resident
Artificial/Terrestrial Plantations suitable resident
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland major resident
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane suitable resident
Altitude 0 - 1980 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Utilisation
Purpose Scale
Food - human subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Choco Toucan Ramphastos brevis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/choco-toucan-ramphastos-brevis on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.