With over 500 different species of birds, 80 percent which are classified as residents and 20 percent  migrants from North America, Belize has become a premier destination for bird watching.

In this blog post we will feature the National Bird of Belize – The Keel-billed Toucan. The Keel-billed Toucan is a colorful Latin American member of the toucan family and is also the national bird of Belize. Known as the “bill bird” locally, the bill of this bird is vivid and is composed of the following colors: yellow, orange, red, green and black.

The Keel-billed toucan is a very social bird and can often be seen in flocks of six or more birds. They can be found throughout Belize’s forests and nest in holes in tree trunks. They lay one to four eggs and the parent birds take turns incubating the eggs. This bird displays a rapid, heavy flapping of the wings when flying and calls with a creek creek sound, similar to a frog.

Toucans are primarily fruit eaters, feeding on a wide variety of tropical fruits of the forest. It feeds by snipping off the fruit and flipping its head back to gulp the fruit. Toucans will also feed on insects, lizards, snakes and event the eggs of smaller birds.