Plate-billed mountain toucan, Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve, Ecuador

© Tui De Roy/Minden Picture

Info. Plate-billed mountain toucan

Today we’re at the Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve in the Pichincha province of Ecuador, a conservation area that was established in 1981. Bellavista is located at high altitude, in the north-west Andes mountains, and is home to a huge variety of birds, including the plate-billed mountain toucan you see here.

These colourful birds live in the high cloud forests of Ecuador and southern Colombia, and are particularly vocal toucans, with males and females known to duet at volumes that can be heard over a kilometre away. Plate-billed mountain toucans are on the list of near-threatened birds due to deforestation and poachers who trade in exotic birds. But conservation organisations including Bellavista are offering some hope – and refuge – to this toucan and many birds, plants and other wildlife.