Can a Red-Breasted toucan thrive in the wild with a fractured beak?

Abstract

Beak fractures in Toucans can be common for different causes and usually treated with prostheses while the bird is kept in captivity up to total beak regrowth. There is no information of Toucans thriving in the wild with this kind of injury. Here, I report a free-living Red-breasted Toucan (Ramphastos dicolorus) recorded on video with an avulsion of half of its upper jaw showing an adapted behavior for feeding. The bird was observed twice in the same area. The apparent absence of caseous content and debris in the injury through the analysis of the frames suggests an old lesion in recovery. Based on the literature on beak injuries, I discuss some potential threats the lesion could pose to the specimen in the wild and suggest further researches that can be done with animals already in captivity recovering from the same injury.