Northern Emerald-Toucanet

Aulacorhynchus prasinus


eBird offers this description of the Northern Emerald-Toucanet:  Medium-sized, grass-green toucan of humid tropical forest in foothills and highlands; also very locally in lowlands. Usually in pairs or small groups, moving through the canopy or feeding at fruiting trees. Nothing similar in its range. Note the rusty tail tips, best seen from below. Pattern of black and yellow on bill varies from region to region.

The Birds of the World website introduces the Northern Emerald-Toucanet with this descriptive information:  Northern Emerald-Toucanet is a small toucan of humid montane forests of Central America; it is the northernmost species of toucan, occurring north to eastern Mexico. Like other species of Aulacorhynchus, it is primarily bright green, with a white or blue throat, and rufous undertail coverts and rufous tips to the rectrices. This species is quite variable geographically, containing as many as eight subspecies. The subspecies differ subtly in size, and more dramatically in the color of the throat (white or blue) and the pattern of the bill. The bill is black and yellow. The mandible always is black, and the maxilla is mostly yellow, but the extent of the yellow varies across subspecies. Northern Emerald-Toucanet typically forages on fruit and small vertebrates in humid forest, frequently moving together in small flocks. As is typical of toucans, this species nests in cavities in trees. The clutch size usually is three to four eggs, and both sexes incubate and feed the nestlings. Northern Emerald-Toucanet is the best known species of Aulacorhynchus, although most of what is known about its biology is based on observations in Costa Rica.

I saw my first Northern Emerald-Toucanet on the morning of February 8, 2023 in the Savegre Region of Costa Rica.  Our small birding group (Tropical Birding Tours) was hiking on one of the trails located up the mountain from Hotel Savegre when we spotted the bird.  My look at this bird was very short, and my photograph was not a good one, since the bird was in low light and partially obscured by limbs and leaves.  I am almost embarrassed to post my picture from this sighting, but it is a good illustration of how much difference good light and open looks can make when it comes to photographing these wild birds.  So, the first photograph below is from my first sighting on February 8, 2023, at Savegre.  I took the next four photos on the morning of February 13, 2023 at the Cala Lodge in the Monteverde area.  The Cala Lodge had a nice deck for viewing and photographing the birds that were attracted by the fruit they put out each morning at their feeders.   

MY PHOTO OF THE TOUCANET TAKEN ON THE TRAIL ABOVE HOTEL SAVEGRE ON FEBRUARY 8, 2023. I WAS LUCKY TO EVEN THIS PHOTO, AS THE BIRD WAS WELL HIDDEN AND THE LIGHT WAS POOR.
NORTHERN EMERALD-TOUCANET AT CALA LODGE ON THE MORNING OF FEBRUARY 13, 2023.
ANOTHER LOOK AT THE NORTHERN EMERALD-TOUCANET AT CALA LODGE.
THE TOUCANET I WATCHED AT CALA LODGE. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE EVIDENCE OF THE LIGHT RAIN THAT HAD BEGUN TO FALL THAT MORNING.
ONE FINAL PHOTO OF THE TOUCANET AT CALA LODGE. THE SKY HAD DARKENED JUST BEFORE I TOOK THIS PHOTO.