Birdland: The Wearing Of The Green
Emerald Toucanets live in the highest branches of trees in dense forests from Mexico to Venezuela. Their diets consist mainly of fruit, and though they live up to 14 years they rarely come down to the ground. Toucanets are one of 43 species of toucans and like the parrots and macaws and woodpeckers they share the forest with, they are zygodactylous. That means two of their toes point forward and the other two point backward. This foot design provides stability while they move up and down tree branches and trunks. This Emerald Toucanet was photographed in Costa Rica by Mark Silverstein.