The Andean motmot or highland motmot (''Momotus aequatorialis'') is a colorful

near-passerine Near passerines and higher land-bird assemblage are terms of traditional, pre-cladistic taxonomy that have often been given to tree-dwelling birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines (order Passeriformes) owing to mor ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

found from northern

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

to western

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The Andean motmot and the blue-capped (''Momotus coeruleiceps''), whooping (''M. subrufrescens''),

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

(''M. bahamensis''), Lesson's (''M. lessonii''), and

Amazonian motmot The Amazonian motmot (''Momotus momota'') is a colorful near-passerine bird in the family Momotidae. It is found in the Amazon lowlands and low Andean foothills from eastern Venezuela to eastern Brazil and northeastern Argentina. Taxonomy an ...

s (''M. momota'') were all at one time considered conspecific.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 19 January 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 19, 2021Schulenberg, T. S. (2020). Andean Motmot (''Momotus aequatorialis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.higmot1.01 retrieved May 6, 2021 The Andean motmot has two recognized subspecies, the nominate ''Momotus aequatorialis aequatorialis'' and ''M. a. chlorolaemus''.

Appearance

The Andean motmot is in general typical of its family: It is a large bird with a stout black bill and a long tail with a "racquet" tip. It is long and weighs . Its back, wings, throat, breast, and belly are green. The crown is black, bordered on the sides and rear with a "diadem" of various shades of blue. It has a black "mask" bordered with blue and a black spot or streak in the center of the breast. The racquets are dark blue.

Distribution and habitat

The Andean motmot is resident in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

from Colombia through Ecuador and Peru to La Paz Department in northwestern Bolivia. In Colombia, it occurs in all three major cordilleras, but in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia it is found only along the eastern side of the Andes. In Colombia it ranges in elevation from , in Ecuador from , in Peru from , and in Bolivia from . The Andean motmot primarily inhabits humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

, often near steams. It can also be found along forest edges and in

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

Behavior

Feeding

The Andean motmot is omnivorous. It primarily feeds on

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s but also eats fruit. It has been documented taking a small marsupial of genus ''

Micoureus The 27 species in the genus ''Marmosa'' are relatively small Neotropical members of the family Didelphidae. This genus is one of three that are known as mouse opossums. The others are ''Thylamys'' (the "fat-tailed mouse opossums") and '' Tlacuat ...

''.

Breeding

The Andean motmot is assumed to nest in a long burrow in an earth bank like other motmots, but the nest has not been described. A male in breeding condition was collected in September in Colombia.

Vocalization

The song of the Andean motmot has been described as "a monotone ''boop-oop''

similar to that of rufous motmot.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the Andean motmot as being of Least Concern.

Gallery

File:Momotus aequatoriales - head.jpg File:Momotus aequatorialis (Barranquero coronado - Andean motmot). (43925369220).jpg File:Momotus aequatorialis (Barranquero coronado - Andean motmot) (45834582331).jpg

References

Additional reading

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q10428555 Andean motmot Birds of the Andes Birds of the Northern Andes Andean motmot Taxa named by John Gould