First record of geophagy by a Ramphastidae species (Piciformes)

Abstract

The use of soil as a resource has been reported for several groups of vertebrates. Among birds, geophagy had been documented for Columbidae, Cracidae, Anatidae, and Psittacidae, for some Passeriformes, and there is a single report for Picidae. However, it had never been reported for toucans (Ramphastidae). Previous studies indicate that this behavior can bring benefits, such as mineral supplementation, neutralization of toxins in the diet, and chemical and mechanical aid in the digestion process. Here, we report the first documented record of geophagy for Ramphastidae, where a single individual Red-breasted Toucan Ramphastos dicolorus, an Atlantic Forest endemic and primarily frugivorous bird, was observed consuming portions of red clay soil, next to a road in a semi-urbanized area at Guarulhos city, state of São Paulo. We discussed the possible reasons for this event of geophagy, probably an uncommon behavior for a toucan, which needs to be better investigated for understanding its motivation. Keywords Atlantic Forest. Behavior. Ramphastos dicolorus. Red-breasted Toucan. Natural history. Soil consumption Geophagy is the intentional or incidental consumption of clay, soil, or sand by animals, and it has been observed for several groups of vertebrates, such as reptiles (Sokol 1971), birds

Seasonal variation in the predation on avian resources by the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) in Brazil, based on community science data

“…Some studies in a few Neotropical locations also provided brief comments on consuming unusual food items, such as flowers, insects, small mammals, and lizards (Skutch 1955, 1971, Riley & Smith 1986, Silva & Azevedo 2012. Even geophagy has been eventually recorded for some species of toucans (Matinata & Perrella 2020).…”