The Yellow-throated Toucan inhabits regions from Honduras to northern South America. This species, classified as Near Threatened, consists of three subspecies: the "Chestnut-mandibled" toucan (R. a. swainsonii), the "Black-mandibled" toucan (R. a. ambiguus), and another "Black-mandibled" toucan (R. a. abbreviatus). The Yellow-throated Toucan ranges from 19 to 24 inches in length and weighs between 1.3 to 1.6 pounds. Both males and females exhibit slight differences in bill length, with males typically having longer bills. The bill lengths vary from 5.9 to 7.8 inches in males and 5.1 to 6.3 inches in females. Other physical measurements, such as wing chord, tail length, and tarsus length, show little variation between sexes. The bird's plumage is predominantly black, with a maroon tint on the hindneck and upper back, and bright yellow on the face, throat, and upper breast. Distinctive red vent and undertail coverts, as well as variations in the bare skin around their eyes and bill color, differentiate the subspecies. The bills are mostly yellow with varying degrees of black or maroon depending on the subspecies​​. The distribution of these subspecies is as follows: R. a. swainsonii is found from southeastern Honduras through Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, western Colombia to southwestern Ecuador; R. a. ambiguus inhabits areas from southwestern Colombia to south-central Peru; and R. a. abbreviatus is located in northeastern Colombia and northwestern and northern Venezuela. The "Chestnut-mandibled" subspecies primarily resides in lowland evergreen primary forests, gallery forests, older secondary forests, and well-treed parks and gardens, while the "Black-mandibled" subspecies prefer humid primary montane forests and older secondary forests. The subspecies occupy various elevations, with the "Chestnut-mandibled" found from sea level to around 6,600 feet.