Spotting Toucans in Rio

Picture the scene: it’s 9am and I’m sitting at my desk with a full day of work ahead of me. My phone is switched off, I’m logged out of all instant-messaging applications and Mrs Eat Rio is in São Paulo. Today nothing will distract me. Today will be different. Today I will achieve! 

I start tapping away at the keyboard and it feels like things are going well. Then a strange noise starts up outside. It’s actually quite annoying and for once it isn’t man-made. This is the sound I heard:

See what I mean? It is pretty annoying isn’t it? It’s also quite hard to ignore and it sounded like it was coming from the trees just outside the window, so I decided to investigate.

As tormentors go this fellow was rather charming.

For those of you struggling to see the subject of that last photo, here’s a close-up:

It’s a Channel-billed Toucan!

Whoop! It was a Channel-billed Toucan! I had actually seen one of these a couple of years ago, but this time they were much closer. There were 3 or 4 of these birds jumping around in the mango tree. I even managed to get a (not very clear) shot of one of them eating:

Mmmm, berries!

You can actually spot these birds in quite a few places across Rio – just keep your eyes open anywhere close to the forest (Jardim Botânico is probably your best bet). And now that you know what they sound like, you can impress your friends with your awesome bird knowledge – you’ll be invited to all the cool parties from now on…