Rattus rattus (Mammalia: Rodentia) predation by Ramphastos vitellinus (Aves: Ramphastidae) in Santa Teresa Municipality, Espírito Santo, Brazil.

Abstract

The Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus) is a frugivorous bird that eventually predates small vertebrates. This note reports a predatory event of one Channel-billed Toucan upon a black rat (Rattus rattus). The bird captured the rat on the ground with its beak, then, it returned to the canopy where it killed the rat beating it against a tree branch. After the rats death, the toucan ingested muscular and visceral tissues. Although the predation upon small vertebrates has been described for this species, the consume of black rats had never been reported; the role of the Channel-billed Toucan in rat population control in urban centres must be evaluated in future studies.