Northern emerald toucanet
The northern emerald toucanet is a species of bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It occurs in montane regions from southern Mexico to southern Panama.
Taxonomy
The northern emerald toucanet was formally described and illustrated in 1833 by the English ornithologist John Gould. He coined the binomial name Pteroglossus prasinus and specified the locality as Mexico. The specific epithet prasinus is Latin meaning "leek-green", from Ancient Greek πρασον/prason meaning "leek". The northern emerald toucanet is now one of eight toucanets placed in the genus Aulacorhynchus that was introduced in 1835 by Gould.For many years the northern emerald toucanet was considered to have 14 subspecies. In 2008 the International Ornithological Committee divided the subspecies into five species based on differences in morphology and mitochondrial DNA sequences. The species were the emerald toucanet with four subspecies, the blue-throated toucanet with two subspecies, the white-throated toucanet with four subspecies, the black-throated toucanet with three subspecies and the monotypic Wagler's toucanet. In 2025, based on the relatively modest differences, AviList chose instead to recognise only two species, the northern emerald toucanet with seven subspecies and the southern emerald toucanet also with seven subspecies.
Seven subspecies are recognised:A. p. wagleri – Sierra Madre del Sur of southwestern Mexico A. p. warneri Winker, K, 2000 – mountains of southeastern Mexico A. p. prasinus – southeastern Mexico A. p. virescens Ridgway, R, 1912 – southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, western El Salvador, Honduras, and northern NicaraguaA. p. volcanius Dickey, DR & Van Rossem, AJ, 1930 – eastern El Salvador A. p. caeruleogularis Gould, J, 1853 – highlands of Costa Rica and western and central Panama A. p. cognatus Nelson, EW, 1912 – mountains of eastern Panama and adjacent Colombia
Description
Like other toucans, the northern emerald toucanet is brightly marked and has a large bill. Adults are long and weigh about. The sexes are alike in appearance although the female generally is smaller and shorter-billed. Their bill has a black mandible, a yellow maxilla with a black patch near the nares, and a white vertical strip at its base. All subspecies have plumage that is mainly green like that of other members of genus Aulacorhynchus, and is somewhat lighter below than above. The nominate's crown has a bronze tinge and its nape and upper back a yellowy bronze tint. Their eye is dark brown surrounded by even darker bare skin. Their lower face and throat are white. Their flanks are bright yellow-green to green-yellow and their undertail coverts and the underside of the tail are chestnut. The base of their tail's upper surface is green becoming blue towards the end and the tips of the feathers are chestnut.The subspecies differ mainly in the color of the throat and the bill. Subspecies A. p. warneri has a yellowish wash on its throat and some yellow on the face. A. p. virescens is slightly smaller than the nominate. It has a yellower face and throat, more yellow on the flanks, and darker chestnut tips on the tail feathers. A. p. volcanius is similar to the nominate but paler overall and slightly smaller. Immatures are grayer than adults and the chestnut of the tail tips is browner and smaller.