- i'm coyote peterson and thisis baby toucan feeding time. watch this... (bird squawking) (energetic music) (moves to bouncy music) - [voiceover] the alturaswildlife sanctuary has a very clear mission when it comes to costarica's wild animals that are in need of help.
rescue, rehabilitate andultimately release them back into theirnatural environment. but what about the animals whocannot make a full recovery? located in the coastaltown of domincal, alturas also calls itself home to nearly 50permanent residents. these animals cannot bereleased back into the wild because of disability orsevere over domestication. and while some of thesepermanent residents
are covered in fur. - it's sloth feeding time. - [voiceover] many areactually of the feathered kind. so this morning i will besitting down for breakfast with one of their newestadditions, a baby toucan. - this is the realfroot loops right here, this is fresh cut fruit and what i'm about to do isfeed it to a baby toucan. it smells really good,this looks like something
that i would eat for breakfast. so i have a feelingthat this toucan is absolutely gonna love it. oh boy, here he comes. look at that! that is a baby toucan. i have never seenone of these before. that is so amazing, youlook like a little dinosaur. look at that curious head.
look what i've got. now if i was a mama toucan, i would come in with somefruit just like this. there you go. he's eatin' the spoon. look at that beak,quite the chomper. here we go, comingin, coming in hot. there we go. and although it's a juvenile,
that beak could still giveme a pretty good chomp so i wanna keep myfingers away from there that's why i'm using a spoon. here you go. - [voiceover] when fully grown, the toucans bill can benearly seven inches in length and will continue toevolve in coloration being a mix of red,orange and green. - i'm just like a mama bird,
gotta get thatway down in there. okay. - [voiceover] have youever fed a toucan before? - i have never feda toucan before. there's a firsttime for everything. did you know that froot loopsis actually my favorite cereal and as a kid i usedto love toucan sam. so hanging out todaywith this baby toucan, getting to feed itreal fruit loops
is a pretty cool experience. oh, give me back the spoon! he's tryna eat the whole spoon! we've got all kindsof good stuff in here. we've got cantaloupe andpineapple and banana. (coyote squawks) there you go, you gotsome of it on your beak. look at those eyes, look athow big and buggy his eyes are. and without the feathersfully developed on the neck
you can see the curveof that vertebrae. look at the feet. you see that? you know what it looks like, reminds me of ababy pterodactyl. - [voiceover] these birds have what is known as zygodactyl feet with toe sets facingin opposite directions. this foot structure, withtwo toes in the front
and two toes in the back, allows them to easily maneuver in the lush rainforest canopies. - and a baby toucan of thissize obviously up in the trees it's very importantthat he uses these claws to keep himself in the nestand on the tree branches. now this baby toucaneats four times a day and quite a bit of food. oh i know, i hear you.
more, more, more, he says. you okay, here you go. it's always niceto have a friend over for a breakfastconversation, and right nowwe're talking about what it's like tobe a baby toucan. it's a rough life if youfall out of the nest. - [voiceover] if a babytoucan falls from the nest it's almost certain to bepicked off by a predator.
however, in the case ofthis lucky little bird, it was found by a humanwho did the right thing and brought it to the sanctuary. - now hopefully this baby toucan will be able to be rehabilitated and eventually releasedback into the wild. so we don't want it to becometoo acclimated to humans but it is importantthat this bird does eat several times a dayto keep up its nourishment.
you are one sloppyeater, you know that? - [voiceover] heis a sloppy eater. - i think you're gettingmore of this fruit on the log than youare in your mouth. aw, look at his little tail. look at that little (mumbles) want some more? yes, that's a goodbreakfast isn't it. this right here is thebreakfast of champions.
fruit for thefroot loops toucan. oh, it's like feedinga baby dinosaur. (bouncy music) - [voiceover]because this toucan could not bereturned to its nest, it will be raised in captivity and will become a permanentresident at alturas. and whether you arecovered in fur or feathers each and every member of thisincredible family of animals
is living a happyand loved life. how awesome is that? spending the morningfeeding a baby toucan. - i'm coyote peterson,be brave, stay wild eat your breakfast, we'llsee ya on the next adventure. is constantly welcomingnew volunteers to help with therescue, rehabilitation and release of costarica's beautiful animals. for more information on how
you can become apart of the team, visit their website:alturaswildlifesanctuary.org. if you thought feedinga baby toucan was cool, check out the time i had an apple eating contestwith a cassowary. and don't forget, subscribeto join me and the crew on this season ofbreaking trail. - whoa, did youguys just see that? - [voiceover] i'm gonnasay that was three seconds.
- that cassowary literally justswallowed that apple whole. (animal howling)
