Yellow-throated Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus) [XC601487]
by Leonardo Ord\u00f3\u00f1ez-Delgado from Reserva Buenaventura (western access track), Pi\u00f1as, El Oro, Ecuador (call)
Yellow-throated Toucan (Ramphastos ambiguus) [XC357956]
by Kent Livezey from Pipeline Road, Soberania National Park, Panama (song)
Subspecies
No close relatives. Fairly close to Red-billed Toucan (Ramphastos tucanus), but probably not forming a superspecies. These two constitute the so-called "yelping group" of toucans. Long considered to include Choco Toucan (Ramphastos brevis) as subspecies, but they are now generally accepted as distinct species, with different vocalizations. Subspecies swainsonii often treated as a distinct species, but resembles nominate in behaviour, voice and morphology, and they apparently interbred in former contact zone in Colombia (lower Cauca Valley). Species treatment of swainsonii presumably based largely on its sympatry with Choco Toucan (Ramphastos brevis), when this form was thought to belong within present species. Other described forms include innominatus from Colombia, a synonym of nominate ambiguus, and tocard and tocardus, which are synonyms of swainsonii.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
swainsonii Gould, 1833 - South-eastern Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica south to western Colombia (east to Cauca Valley, formerly middle Magdalena Valley) and southern along western Andes to south-western Ecuador (El Oro). Considered by some authors to be a distinct specie.
abbreviatus Cabanis, 1862 - North-eastern Colombia, and north-western and northern Venezuela (eastern in mountains to Miranda).
ambiguus Swainson, 1823 - South-western Colombia (from upper R Magdalena) southern along eastern Andean slopes to south-central Peru (Junín).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet