The interior of the toucan's beak is rigid "foam" made of bony fibers and drum-like membranes sandwiched between outer layers of keratin, the protein that makes up fingernails, hair and horn.

While long and wide beaks are usually seen on wading birds to help them pick their prey, the toucan’s gleaming 7.5-in beak is all about courtship. A colored variant of the toucan is keel-billed R.