Fun Selenidera Facts For Kids

Look at the Selenidera for the first time and you will be mesmerized by the colors on their bodies and their majestic brown crown. The Selenidera genus is known for its beautiful, colorful bodies among other birds of the world.

The Selenidera are proud members of the order Piciformes, the family of Ramphastidae. There are about six different species under the Selenidera genus.

You can spot five of this species in abundance in tropical Southern American lands, and one of them can be found in the Central American region. All six of them are absolutely mesmerizing to look at.

The yellow auricular streak is a distinct feature of these birds, making them look absolutely beautiful. Jürgen Haffer, a known German biologist, has used this genus as one of the prime proofs of the ‘refugia’ hypothesis. These birds are often mistaken for the araçari.

Are you excited to know about these beautiful birds under the Selenidera genus? You can have a good time reading about other birds such as the Virginia rail and the American black duck on our pages!

‍

Selenidera Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a Selenidera?

The Selenidera is a type of bird.

What class of animal does a Selenidera belong to?

The Selenidera genus species belong to the class of birds.

How many Selenideras are there in the world?

Unfortunately, there is no exact count on the population distribution of the Selenidera genus surviving in the world alive. There are different populations of the Selenidera Aves coming under different groups of the taxa.

Where does a Selenidera live?

The genus Selenidera is usually inhabited in lowland forest areas.

What is a Selenidera's habitat?

Lowland rainforests are where you can search for the Selenidera usually, having altitudes generally below 4900 ft (1500 m).

Who do Selenideras live with?

A bird in the Ramphastidae family is found to be living either alone or with their pairs.

How long does a Selenidera live?

The average lifespan of Guianan Toucanet Selenidera is about 20 years.

How do they reproduce?

These birds of the Ramphastidae family genus are followers of monogamous relationships. The breeding ritual has a lot of love involved.

They throw fruits at each other to impress their mates. The search for an ideal home begins, and usually, the Selenidera nest is made in tree cavities.

These nests are not lined with any plant litter, but instead have small wood chips or seeds on which the eggs are laid. If this cavity is small, they use their beaks to excavate and make these cavities big enough to accommodate them.

The eggs are laid in these nests, with an average clutch size of two to four eggs. These eggs are looked after by the parents. Incubation duties are carried out by both the parents, usually going on for 16 days.

Selenidera chicks are born blind after the incubation periods. Both parents bring fruits for their little ones.

After about 1.5 months, the young Selenidera hatchlings are ready to leave the nest. Their feathers begin to grow after a month of hatching, and the bills take about four months to fully develop.

The spot billed Toucanet Selenidera mating season varies based on their regions. It occurs between the months of December till June in the North, whereas the southern regions witness the mating season in the months of October to the beginning of February. There is no breeding of the Selenidera taking place between March to May.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of the six Selenidera birds of the world alive is Least Concern.

Selenidera Fun Facts

What do Selenideras look like?

Undoubtedly, the Selenidera are among the most beautiful birds in the world. All six species of this genus have green plumage.

They have a small patch of bluish green skin around their eyes. Their undertails and coverts are red in color. Both sexes have different body hues, they are sexually dichromatic.

The proud males have black shades on their throats, nape, breasts, and even crowns. The majority of the female species have a rich dark brown tint on the same parts of the body, which are black in the males.

The male birds also possess a beautiful yellow and orange auricular streak while the female birds might either not have the auricular streak, or have a lesser vibrant streak. The female birds belonging to the Selenidera piperivera species have a reddish brown collar around the nape of their necks and greyish underparts.

Female Selenidera spectabilis birds are pretty similar to the males, however, they lack the bright auricular streak and have a brown crown.

Their beaks are hooked towards the end. These birds have yellow eyes with black pupils.

One subspecies of the golden collared toucanet sport broad maroon bills with black tips, whereas the other subspecies possess a bluish gray beak with black tips.

The Tawny tufted Toucanet has a yellow culmen. Their bills have a large bluish patch near their base. They have light blue spots on their maxilla. Their lower body has a mustard yellow hue.

Coming to the spot billed Toucanet, these birds have pale green/ivory beaks with a brighter end. This beak is decorated with three to five stripes. Their feet and legs are in shades of pale gray.

How cute are they?

We find these birds moderately cute.

How do they communicate?

Selenidera calls are low in pitch and sound like croaking. Generally, they are really quiet and hence, hard to find. The male and the female birds in a pair chirp one at a time if they are together. In case these birds are not close, they may perform melodious duets.

Their songs are hollow ‘gaww’, ‘growk’, ‘kroaw’ sounds, usually lasting for about four to eight seconds. They also click and tap their bills to communicate with others.

How big is a Selenidera?

The Selenidera body size has lengths ranging between 12-14 in (30-35 cm). The yellow-eared toucanet (Cassin's araçari) is slightly bigger, with their bodies' total length being about 15 in (38 cm).

This body's total length equals four times the body length of a House Mouse.

How fast can a Selenidera move?

We are not aware of the speeds the Selenidera can attain.

How much does a Selenidera weigh?

The weight of the Selenidera come in the range of 3.8-8.7 oz (107.8-247 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

There are no separate names for both sexes of this species of bird.

What would you call a baby Selenidera?

A baby Selenidera is known as a chick.

What do they eat?

The primary constituents of the Selenidera diet are fruits. However, during the nesting periods, they feed on eggs, insects, and even small lizards.

Are they poisonous?

These birds are not poisonous at all!

Would they make a good pet?

The Guianan Toucanet have been kept as pets in South America.

Did you know...

The six different species of the Selenidera genus and their distribution are mentioned below.

Selenidera spectabilis: The yellow eared Toucanet is native to the forests of Central America.

Selenidera piperivera: The Guianan Toucanet is spotted in Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil, French Guiana, and Suriname.

Selenidera reinwardtii: The golden collared toucanet is found mainly in the Amazon rainforest.

Selenidera nattereri: The tawny-tufted toucanet is found in Guyana, Colombia, Brazil, and the Amazonian Basins of Venezuela.

Selenidera gouldii: The Gould’s toucanet is found abundantly in the southeastern regions of the tropical Amazon rainforest and parts of Brazil.

Selenidera maculirostris: Being the scientific name of the spot billed toucanet, this bird is found in Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazilian forests.

The yellow eared Selenidera is also known as Cassin's araçari.

The Selenidera species are on the list of the territorial birds of the world, who march around their territory to keep other birds away.

Want to take a trip around the world and know the yellow eared Selenidera in other languages?

Spanish: Tucanete Orejigualdo

French: Toucanet à oreilles d'or

Slovak: Tukaník žltosluchý

Polish: Tukanik złotouchy

Japanese (romaji): aohashikochuuhashi

Dutch: Geeloorpepervreter

Norwegian: Brilletukan

Portuguese: Araçaripoca-grande

Let us now see the different names of the Golden-collared Selenidera!

Spanish: Tucanete de Reinwardt (langsdorffii)

French: Toucanet de Reinwardt (langsdorffii)

Slovak: Tukaník zelenozobý (skup.)

Polish: Tukanik czarnopierśny (langsdorffii)

Japanese (romaji): akahashikochuuhashi (langsdorffii)

Norwegian: Rødnebbtukan (langsdorffii)

Portuguese: Araçari-de-Langsdorfi

Spanish (Spain): Tucanete de Reinwardt (langsdorffii)

How high can they fly?

Unfortunately, we are not aware of how high the Selenidera can fly.

Are they predators?

It is only during the nesting periods that the spot billed Toucanet Selenidera might resort to eating small vertebrates or insects.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Kinglet bird facts and spruce grouse facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Selenidera coloring pages.