What special needs do Collared aracari have?

The beak’s the thing. Watch out for it. I mean that two ways – it’s a weapon and it breaks.

Don’t casually release a Collared aracari into a room with other similar or smaller size birds – their beak was designed to kill from a safe distance. The beak doesn’t have alot of serious crushing power. But it doesn’t need it. The length of a Collared aracari’s beak allows it to safely hold and shake or beat to death a stronger bird. The beak is little threat to people – only a wild-caught and very angry Collared aracari has ever broken my skin – but the beak can be lethal to other birds.

Collared aracari and other toucans are best kept in indoor cages and outdoor flights designed for their long narrow fragile beaks. The heavy gauge of most parrot cage bars is unnecessary – a toucan’s beak just doesn’t have the crushing power to make it necessary. The vertical (up and down) orientation of parrot cage bars can be dangerous to toucans – if the beak gets stuck between the bars, and the bird panics, the beak can break. So, light gauge bars or wire are adequate, and if the bars must run vertically, then there should be little more than a half-inch separation between them.

After diet, attention to the beak is the major special requirement for any toucan.