The tody motmot (''Hylomanes momotula'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

bird in the motmot family Momotidae. It is the only species placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Hylomanes''. It is found in

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

, and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The tody motmot is the sole member of its genus. It has three subspecies, the nominate ''Hylomanes momotula momotula'', Lichtenstein, MHC, 1939, ''M. m. chiapensis'' ( Brodkorb, 1938), and ''M. m. obscurus'' (

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, 1911).

Description

The tody motmot is long. Males weigh and females . It is by far the smallest motmot, and named because it resembles the closely related todies (family Todidae) of the Caribbean. The nominate subspecies has a green crown, a rufous neck, and a green back and rump. It has a blue supercilium and a black mask with a white stripe below it. It has a white throat, a greenish breast with light streaks, and a white belly. The other two subspecies are similar but darker, and ''M. m. obscurus'' also has less white on the throat.Snow, D. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Tody Motmot (''Hylomanes momotula''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.todmot1.01 retrieved May 4, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The tody motmot ranges from southern Mexico through

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

into Colombia. The nominate subspecies is the most widespread; it is found from

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

and

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

in Mexico east and south through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador at least to Nicaragua and possibly into Costa Rica. ''M. m. chiapensis'' is found in Chiapas, Mexico, Guatemala, and possibly El Salvador. ''M. m. obscurus'' is found in Panama and northwestern Colombia. The tody motmot inhabits humid evergreen forest from sea level to elevation. It is especially partial to ravines.

Behavior

Feeding

The tody motmot's diet includes insects, spiders, and snails. Unlike most other motmots, it has not been recorded to eat fruit. It plucks prey from vegetation while flying and also captures butterflies and dragonflies on the wing.

Breeding

The tody motmot's breeding phenology is mostly unknown. In Belize, an adult was seen carrying food in June and an adult and fledgling were seen in early July. A fledgling was collected in Guatemala in June. In

Chocó Department Choco Department is a department of Western Colombia known for its large Afro-Colombian population. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It ...

, Colombia, an egg-laying female was collected in February, and in Antioquia Department a female in breeding condition was collected in May. The nest is unrecorded.

Vocalization

One of the tody motmot's vocalizations is a "resonant, far-carrying, gruff-sounding 'kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa...' or 'quah quah quah quah...'

Another is " loud, penetrating, hollow 'whoop!' notes

Status

The IUCN has assessed the tody motmot as being of Least Concern. It varies from very uncommon to common in different parts of its fragmented range.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q426947 tody motmot Birds of Mexico Birds of Belize Birds of Guatemala Birds of Honduras Birds of El Salvador Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Panama Birds of Colombia tody motmot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot