Ramphastos toucans of Bolivia

Ramphastos Toucans are the largest of the toucan family, related to the Asian/African hornbills, along with woodpeckers, barbets, jacamars and kingfishers.
These toucans are tropical and subtropical near passerine birds from Mexico, and Central and South America, which are brightly marked and have enormous, often colourful, bills.
This genus has a size ranging from 42 to 61 centimetres (17 to 24 in) in length. All have black wings, tails and thighs, but the colour of the remaining plumage depends on the exact species involved. All the species are basically fruit-eating, but will take insects and other small prey. They are arboreal and nest in tree holes laying 2–4 white eggs. They are essentially resident birds, but may take part in minor, local movements (e.g., to lower altitudes in the winter). 

There are 7 species in this genus, 4 of which are Bolivian:

Channel-billed Toucan, Ramphastos vitellinus
Green-billed Toucan, Ramphastos dicolorus
White-throated Toucan, Ramphastos tucanus
Toco Toucan, Ramphastos toco

In the case of the Channel-billed and the White-throated, supspp. are recognised as follows:

Channel-billed Toucan, Ramphastos vitellinus
        Citron-throated Toucan, Ramphastos (vitellinus) citreolaemus.
        Ariel Toucan, Ramphastos (vitellinus) ariel
        Yellow-ridged Toucan, Ramphastos (vitellinus/ariel) culminatus

White-throated Toucan, Ramphastos tucanus
         Red-billed Toucan, Ramphastos (tucanus) tucanus
         Cuvier's Toucan, Ramphastos (tucanus) cuvieri

The Bolivian subspp. of the Channel-billed is the R. vitellinus culminatus, called the Yellow-ridged Toucan, a short video of which may be seen here:

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/channel-billed-toucan-ramphastos-vitellinus/yellow-ridged-toucan-perched-showing-all-kind-head

The Bolivian subspp. of the White-throated Toucan is the R. tucanus tucanus, called the Red-billed.

Toucans are not  hard to see, some are tame and kept as pets. In Santa Cruz, one of the hostels - Residencia Bolivar, keeps Toco Toucans which can get quite playful with the residents.

In addition to Ramphastos Toucans, Bolivia also has toucanets and aracaris, with a total of well over a dozen in the toucan family, mostly in the departamentos of Santa  Cruz, Beni, Pando, Oruro, Chuquisaca, La Paz and Cochabamba. 

New York Times on Bolivia; journalism or malicious gossip?

For years we have passed information to the New York Times and other papers. They have ignored it, even when a Bolivian consul offered his house to a NYT journalist and offered to set up an interview with Evo Morales. A press reception in the Bolivian consulate in New York, on 30 June, 2010, was ignored by the NYT, the NY Post and the NY Daily News. A short cab or subway ride away from their offices, or a ten minute walk for any able bodied journalists, was too much to undertake.

Even when Bolivian officials visited this city and spoke at major institutions, such as Colombia University, the journalists here took no note. Morales too spoke, at a convenient midtown location, and they were nowhere to be seen.

Bolivia, twice the size of France, or Texas, with its great diversity ethnically and geographically, has great opportunity for any real journalist. Recently, much of this has been positive, with the great increases in minimum wage, education and living conditions, the creation of more infrastructure and tourism, etc.

But none of this reaches the pages of the New York Times. I seldom get a google alert on my email; but recently it has been a constant stream of alerts about NYT pieces on Bolivia; all hit pieces.

Here is a sampling:
17 Feb  (AP)  "6 Dead of Asphyxiation in Bolivian Protest"
19 Feb  (Editorial Board)  "Three Terms is Enough for Morales"
21 Feb  (AP)  "Ballot Question on Morales Re-election in Trouble"
22 Feb  (Nicholas Casey)  "Polls Show Bolivian Leader Losing Vote"
25 Feb  (Nicholas Casey)  "Morales Concedes Defeat"
27 Feb  (Nicholas Casey)  "Former Lover in Jail"

There is a great irony of all this coming from a town where the former mayor had three terms, and wanted more; Michael Bloomberg. He is a pressman, but there was no such hit campaign against his seeking re-election in the NYT. The public voted for term limits for him and for Morales, as they did with Roosevelt. But somehow the NYT makes this
seem like something terrible is happening in Bolivia, and specifically with Morales' administration, and probes into his personal  life, what with claims of a son who passed away but now there is someone claiming the son is alive and a former girlfriend whom he broke up with. No one is sure what is happening, but busybodies are spending their time consumed with it.

I thought such kind of reporting was in the National Enquirer, along with Elvis sightings and UFOs.