Q 01/05

Toucans are native to which region?

A) Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar

B) Southeast Asia and New Guinea

C) The Neotropics, Mexico to Argentina

D) Northern Australia and Tasmania

Answer · why

C) The Neotropics, Mexico to Argentina

The Neotropics, Mexico to Argentina. Toucans are weak fliers that rarely cross open water, so the family has never spread beyond the American tropics.

Q 02/05

Despite the huge bill, toucans are close relatives of which familiar birds?

A) Cuckoos

B) Hummingbirds

C) Woodpeckers

D) Pigeons

Answer · why

C) Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers. The two look nothing alike, yet both sit in the order Piciformes, alongside the honeyguides that lead people to wild bees' nests.

Q 03/05

Which Old World birds fill the same ecological niche as toucans in Africa and Asia?

A) Hornbills

B) Parrots

C) Woodpeckers

D) Kingfishers

Answer · why

A) Hornbills

Hornbills. The two families are not close relatives: each arrived at a huge bill and a taste for fruit on its own, a textbook case of convergent evolu...

Q 04/05

Who keeps a clutch of toucan eggs warm?

A) The female alone

B) Both parents, in turns

C) The male alone

D) A foster bird, cuckoo-style

Answer · why

B) Both parents, in turns

Both parents, in turns. Male and female swap places on the eggs for a little over two weeks, then share the work of feeding the chicks.

Q 05/05

Where do toucans usually nest?

A) In tree hollows dug by other animals

B) In mud nests plastered on cliffs

C) In woven baskets hung from twigs

D) On the ground under fallen leaves

Answer · why

A) In tree hollows dug by other animals

In tree hollows dug by other animals. The famous bill is almost useless as a digging tool, so toucans move into old holes carved by other birds or int...