Move over Toucan Sam

It’s not that unusual to see a rainbow-beaked, Keel Bill Toucan in our neighborhood; usually high in a tree or flying by, though. Doesn’t matter, I still rush into the house and grab my camera, zoom and shoot, trying to capture the beauty of these extraordinary birds. To date my photos have had very mixed results. Anyone familiar with “Sam,” the Fruit Loops toucan, would recognize one easily. Their colorful plumage - predominately black body, yellow chest, green around the eyes and a rainbow-colored bill is unique and actually helps them to hide in the trees. 

So, you can imagine my surprise the other morning when Gordie and I were sitting on the front porch having breakfast and a Toucan flew onto the table. Seems he really wanted to try the cornflakes that Gordie was eating. Seriously. He continued to hang out with us most of the morning. Sat on the ledge, sat on my leg, checked out the garden to see what we were growing, came into the house and grabbed a tomato off the ledge, all the things you would expect a toucan to do when visiting friends. Eventually he decided it was time to leave and off he flew. The next day – no visit. Day after that, he returned and spent several more hours with us.

I watched him sharpen his bill on the porch railing then proceed to “peck” at my arm. Gordie lightly grabbed his bill and they did a little “arm-to-beak” wrestling. Although he couldn’t laugh, I could tell he thoroughly enjoyed the little game. Toucans are called “softbilled” birds but it is because of the food they eat - primarily fruits - and not the hardness of their beaks. He let me pet him, sat on my arm, and showed no fear of humans. His ability to distinguish colors was very keen. “My Toucan” seemed to favor anything in the yellow-orange range. I was working on a mosaic tile project and he came over to the table and immediately picked out the bright yellow tiles. Next he tried to pick up a glue bottle by its bright yellow-orange cap. He also tried for a yellow-handled paintbrush that was on the table. Finally he hopped over to our planter and picked a yellow habanera pepper off the bush and put it in his mouth. Luckily it fell out of his bill and I was able to swoop in and pick it up before any harm was done. I replaced the hot pepper with a chunk of papaya, and made a friend for life.

He has stopped by once more since then, but only to say “hello.” I hope he comes again. This morning there was a Yellow-ear Toucanet in our Cashew tree. Nice, but I still miss “My Toucan.”