Head to head
Channel-billed Toucan vs Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
The channel-billed toucan and chestnut-mandibled toucan belong to the same genus of large fruit-eating toucans, distinguished mainly by bill pattern and overall range.
| Channel-billed Toucan | Chestnut-mandibled Toucan | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Ramphastos vitellinus | Ramphastos ambiguus |
| Bill pattern | Black with pale channel ridge | Black with chestnut-brown lower half |
| Relative size | Large | One of the largest toucans in the world |
| Native range | Amazon basin | Central America to northern South America |
| Throat colour | Yellow-orange | Pale, varies by subspecies |
| Conservation status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Population trend | Stable | Decreasing |
| Habitat | Rainforest | Rainforest, forest |
Channel-billed Toucan vs Chestnut-mandibled Toucan: common questions
How can you tell a channel-billed toucan from a chestnut-mandibled toucan?
The clearest difference is the bill: the channel-billed toucan has a black bill with a pale channel-like ridge along the base, while the chestnut-mandibled toucan has a chestnut-brown lower half to its bill.
Which is bigger, the channel-billed toucan or the chestnut-mandibled toucan?
The chestnut-mandibled toucan is bigger, ranking among the largest toucans in the world, while the channel-billed toucan is also a large toucan but smaller than its chestnut-billed relative.
Do the channel-billed toucan and chestnut-mandibled toucan share the same range?
They overlap only at the edges, since the channel-billed toucan is centred on the Amazon basin while the chestnut-mandibled toucan ranges from Central America into northern South America.