Groove-billed Toucanet

Locally fairly common in suitable montane forest of the Coastal Cordillera and northeastern mountains; the most readily seen of these five endemics. (Note: range is essentially Venezuelan, with the calorhynchus subspecies extending marginally into adjacent Colombia, so often treated as a near-endemic — keep the given 'Venezuela endemic' category for the curriculum.)

Small toucanet, 33-37 cm. Mostly grass-green, paler/yellower on belly and undertail coverts, with a white throat and bare blue skin around the eye. The deeply GROOVED bill is the namesake feature: in the Coastal Cordillera (nominate sulcatus and erythrognathus) the bill is blackish with wine-red/maroon at the base; the western calorhynchus ('Yellow-billed') has a largely yellow bill. Tail tip tinged blue. Gold-bronze wash on face (strongest in nominate).

Humid montane and cloud forest, plus forest edge, secondary growth, isolated fruiting trees and gardens. Mainly 900-2,000 m, occasionally down toward sea level and up to ~2,400 m.

Forages at all levels for fruit, plus invertebrates, eggs and small vertebrates (omnivorous). Travels singly, in pairs or small groups; sometimes attends army-ant swarms. Often perches conspicuously on exposed branches at forest edge.

A repeated dry, barking/croaking 'wik-wik-wik' to 'waak-waak-waak', sometimes given in duet; males lower-pitched than females, and erythrognathus delivers a notably faster tempo. Search Xeno-canto and Macaulay Library for 'Aulacorhynchus sulcatus' / 'Groove-billed Toucanet'.

The easiest of these endemics to show clients — stake out fruiting Cecropia/melastome trees at Rancho Grande or along the Choroní/Ávila roads early morning, and listen for the dry barking calls. Point out the grooved bill and bare blue eye-skin, and use bill color to discuss the calorhynchus 'Yellow-billed' subspecies split-and-lump history.