THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

The voice of the toucan is hoarse and rather disagreeable, and is in many cases rather articulate.  The birds have a habit of sitting on the branches in flocks, having a sentinel to guard them, and are fond of lifting up their beaks, clattering them together and shouting hoarsely; from which custom the natives term them preacher-birds.  Sometimes the whole party, including the sentinel, set up a simultaneous yell, which is so deafeningly loud that it can be heard at the distance of a mile.

Wood/History

Onecan

Toucans

Spike Milligan

MOOR TOUCAN

The moor toucan is a descendent of a pair of toco toucans that escaped from a North Yorkshire zoo in the late 19th century. Remarkably, it found the moorland’s dense ravines to its liking, to the extent that it successfully bred and adopted enough unique characteristics – including an unmistakable scarlet streak on the underside of its bill – to acquire its own sub-species (Ramphastos maurus).  Beyond neotropical areas of Central and South America, Fryup remains the only place in which toucans have successfully bred.

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