LAS VEGAS — Kathryn Eddington was driving in North Las Vegas last week when she thought she saw a large black bird carrying a banana fly across the intersection.
But after a closer look, I realized it was a toucan, a tropical bird native to the rainforests of Central and South America known for its large, colorful beak.
“They are beautiful birds, so to be able to see something like this close to home was amazing,” said Eddington, who recognized the bird from social media and contacted animal rescue.
This toucan is called Sam, and he has been living in the area since November, when a resident posted online that he had escaped from his cage. After surviving in the Las Vegas desert for several months, Sam has captured the attention of community birding groups, with people posting occasional sightings throughout the city.
A local rescue group has been trying to catch him for months, and the clock is ticking.
“I’m very concerned for him,” said Skye Marsh, president and co-founder of SouthWest Exotic Avian Rescue. The Las Vegas-based group spent hours searching for it, only to find the bird 50 feet up in a palm tree, limiting rescue options. She said they had not contacted the owner.
Las Vegas is not a good environment for toucans in the wild, with extremely hot summers and cold winters, said Donald Price, a professor and biologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who studies how species of winged animals adapt to different environments.
Marsh, who has two toucans, said Sam began showing signs of struggling. She said his eyes were sunken, and the color of the skin surrounding his beak began to change.
Sam was likely living on fig and pomegranate trees in the Los Prados neighborhood, located about 15 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, when he first escaped in November, Marsh said. She said that those fruits have since disappeared, and Sam moved on to eating citrus fruits, which are harmful to toucans. Their livers cannot process calcium, and iron can be fatal.
“This bird is not in good condition,” Marsh said.
Bird experts and enthusiasts alike are surprised that the toucan has survived so long in Las Vegas. Exotic birds that escape often have difficulty finding food and avoiding predators, and the changing weather in Las Vegas is also likely affecting toucans.
Birds can regulate their temperature, but only for so long. It takes a lot of energy, so the toucan will need more food, Price said.
He added: “If he is still alive, he could be in trouble, I can imagine. So I hope they catch him.”
She said that the toucan was spotted in a specific place, which is a sign that it is running out of energy. The rescue group set up a cage with food and urged neighbors to stop feeding him. Marsh said the toucan took the cage out but feels spooked when people are around him.
Marsh said the rescue group will take him to the vet as soon as he is captured. He will need fluids, and his system will need to be cleaned to remove the iron he has eaten.
Marsh urged neighbors not to approach the toucan or try to trap Sam themselves.
“The more people there are, the worse it gets because he doesn’t like people,” she said. “So let’s do our job, and we’ll catch him.”
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