The place
San Juan de Arama, Meta, Colombia. Meta runs from the foothills of the Eastern Andes out across the llanos to the rivers of the Guiana Shield. I photographed this toucan at a finca turística in San Juan de Arama at about 6:30 a.m. on a January morning in 2020.
The shot
The toucan perched on a pale, almost leafless branch inside a tangle of bare limbs, turning its head to show the full profile of its huge bill. Its black bill with a yellow ridge, the blue skin around its eye, its white bib and the red under its tail stood out against the soft blue-green hills behind it.
The bird
A toucan of the family Ramphastidae, Ramphastos tucanus (listed by BirdLife as the Red-billed Toucan) is resident from sea level to about 900 m.
Conservation
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, last assessed 2022), but decreasing; BirdLife lists livestock ranching, agro-industry farming and logging among its threats. Source: BirdLife International