Tucancitos are the colourful inhabitants of our plantations. They are guardians of the rainforest, watching over the coffee as it grows in perfect balance with wild nature.
The tropical trees where toucans nest protect the coffee plants from direct heat. They create the perfect microclimate, hold the morning bajareque mountain mist, and allow the coffee cherries to ripen much more slowly. As a result, the beans have enough time to absorb natural sugars and develop complex flavour notes — from the lightness of jasmine to the sweetness of salted caramel.
Where you hear the wings of toucans, coffee grows in its purest, most untamed form.
Let’s take a closer look at them.
Keel-billed Toucan: A Social Icon of the Rainforest
When you picture a classic toucan, this is exactly the bird you see. A true icon and the most widespread toucan of Central America, it is known for its enormous, vividly coloured bill.
It is an incredibly social bird, living in loud flocks and forming the very heart of rainforest life. If an uninvited guest enters the forest, the Keel-billed Toucan immediately announces it with its distinctive deep call — one that, surprisingly, sounds more like the croaking of a giant frog than birdsong.
Although its bill looks massive and heavy, it is actually an extremely lightweight structure covered in hard keratin. That is why these toucans usually weigh no more than half a kilogram.
Collared Aracari: A Playful Rainforest Acrobat and Gourmet
This medium-sized toucan (Pteroglossus torquatus) is instantly recognisable by the distinctive dark “collar” on the back of its neck and its yellow-red belly with a characteristic black patch. Unlike its larger relatives, it has a very slender body and a long tail, giving it incredible agility as it leaps through dense branches.
In the rainforest, it acts as a curious omnivore — alongside tropical fruits, it also happily hunts insects and tree frogs. Aracaris are known for a fascinating ritual: at night, up to six adults can squeeze into a single tree cavity. To save space, they fold themselves up like origami — turning their heads and flipping their long tails all the way forward over their backs.
Plate-billed Mountain Toucan: A Noble Solitary Bird of the Cool, Misty Highlands
This mysterious species (Andigena laminirostris) belongs to the group known as mountain toucans. Its home is not the hot lowlands, but the cool, humid cloud forests at higher altitudes.
To survive in this harsh mountain climate, it has developed dense, exceptionally soft, flowing plumage, with a unique slate-blue to grey colouring on its chest. Compared to the loud lowland species, the Plate-billed Mountain Toucan feels noble and quiet. It usually lives alone or in pairs, and its call is long, ethereal, and carries through the morning mist like an echo.
It plays a key role in the ecosystem, helping to disperse the seeds of unique high-altitude plants.
Emerald Toucanet: A Tireless Green Dart
The smallest of our five, the Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus) measures just 30 to 35 centimetres. Its body is covered in bright emerald-green plumage, which provides perfect camouflage among the dense rainforest foliage — meaning you will often hear it before you see it.
It is a bird with an incredibly fast metabolism and endless energy, constantly on the move and hopping swiftly between coffee tree branches with remarkable agility. Despite its pocket-sized frame, it is an exceptionally bold and territorial bird, fiercely defending its space.
Its bill may be shorter, but it is very sharp, perfectly adapted for quickly picking small berries.
Toucan Barbet: The Bearded Rebel of the Bird World
This colourful beauty (Semnornis ramphastinus) is not technically a true toucan, but a very close evolutionary relative from the same bird order, the Piciformes. It is a true one-of-a-kind species of humid mountain rainforests.
Its most distinctive anatomical feature is its large, sharp bill, with stiff bristles growing around its base that resemble a beard. The Toucan Barbet is also known for its unusual social behaviour — it lives in close family groups that share a single territory and practise what is known as cooperative breeding, where other members of the flock help raise the young.
Its plumage bursts with wild colours, from yellow and turquoise to brick red, making it an unmistakable eccentric of the rainforest.
