The rufous motmot (''Baryphthengus martii'') is a

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 ...

in the family Momotidae. It is found from northeastern

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

south to western

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, northern

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 ...

, and western

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

.Master, T. L. (2020). Rufous Motmot (''Baryphthengus martii''), 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.rufmot1.01 retrieved May 6, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The rufous motmot and rufous-capped motmot (''Baryphtengus ruficapillus'') are the only two species in their genus, and have sometimes been treated as

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

and apparently form a superspecies. The rufous motmot has two recognized subspecies, the nominate '' Baryphthengus martii martii'' and ''B. m. semirufus''. In the early 20th century, ''B. m. martii'' was classified in its own genus, ''Urospatha''.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, 2021 Later, the Nicaraguan and Costa Rican populations were considered to be a third subspecies, ''B. m. costaricensis'', but it was decided they were part of ''B. m. semirufus''. The binomial commemorates the German botanist and explorer

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Life Martius was born at Erlangen, the son of Prof Ernst Wilhelm Martius, court apothecary. He graduated PhD f ...

Description

The rufous motmot is the second-largest member of its family. The male of the nominate subspecies is long and weighs . The female weighs . Male and female ''B. m. semirufus'' weigh and respectively. Adults are mainly cinnamon-rufous, with a black face mask and central breast spot, green wings and sides, a greenish-blue lower belly, and dark blue tail and flight feathers. The tail is very long, and that of ''B. m. semirufus'' but not the nominate has a bare-shafted racket tip. The bill and legs are black. Young birds are paler and duller than adults, and lack the tail rackets and black breast spot.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of rufous motmot occurs in the western

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

in southeastern Colombia through eastern Ecuador and Peru to northern Bolivia, and east into western Brazil. The range of ''B. m. semirufus'' is separate from that of the nominate. It occurs from eastern Honduras through the Caribbean slopes of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, and continues on the Pacific slope of Panama into northwestern Colombia and western Ecuador. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to in Costa Rica and to in Panama and Ecuador. In Peru it can be found locally to but more generally to . The rufous motmot inhabits humid lowland evergreen

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

and also

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. ...

. It prefers tall forest, especially along rivers and streams, but avoids dense foliage.

Behavior

Feeding

The rufous motmot is

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...

. It has been documented eating many types of fruit, adult insects and their larva,

arachnid Arachnida () is a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroon ...

s including crustaceans, and small fish, lizards, and frogs.

Breeding

The rufous motmot's breeding and nesting

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

has few reported details. It is assumed to nest in deep burrows in earthen banks like other motmots. The

clutch size __NOTOC__ A clutch of eggs is the group of eggs produced by birds, amphibians, or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest. In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators (or removal by humans, for example the Califor ...

and eggs are undescribed.

Vocalization

The rufous motmot's song has been described as "''hoos'', ''hoots'', or ''hoops''

It is sometimes answered by a low owl, owl-like ''hoop hoop huhuhuhuhuhu'

An agitation call is a dry chatte

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 rufous motmot as being of Least Concern.

References

External links

* *
Photo-Medium Res
marietta.edu—"The Tropical Rain Forest" * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q188202

rufous motmot The rufous motmot (''Baryphthengus martii'') is a near-passerine bird in the family Momotidae. It is found from northeastern Honduras south to western Ecuador, northern Bolivia, and western Brazil.Master, T. L. (2020). Rufous Motmot (''Barypht ...

Birds of Central America Birds of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena Birds of the Amazon Basin