Whooping motmot

Language English

Onglets

Description

Distinguishing features

The body of the whooping motmot is green on the top and reddish brown or, in Ecuador, greenish brown underneath. One to three teardrop-shaped black marks are visible on the throat. It wears a black crown edged in turquoise and a black mask whose sides are also edged in turquoise. The long tail feathers are green or blue and shaped like an inverted tennis racquet. The eyes are reddish, and the beak slightly curved and serrated.

Reproduction

This bird in the motmot family (Momotidae) nests at the end of a burrow 1.5 to 4 meters long and 10 centimeters in diameter. The hole is generally dug by the male in banks or cliffs along rivers, or sometimes among the rocks. The nest is made of twigs, grasses and flowers. The female lays three to four white eggs. Incubation lasts about 21 days. Both parents raise the young.

Diet

Motmots feed mostly on large insects (beetles, grasshoppers and the like) and other large arthropods, but also on fruit and lizards. They hunt from a hide, much like flycatchers and sparrow hawks. They sit in an upright position, sometimes for long periods of time, and then suddenly leave their perch to seize their prey. Motmots often follow colonies of army ants (Labidus praedator) and seize the opportunity to catch dislodged insects.

Predators

Recent studies seem to indicate that the motmot could be on the menu of certain birds of prey.

Habitat

The whooping motmot lives for the most part in seasonally dry tropical forests in northern Colombia. A subspecies (Momotus subrufescens argenticinctus) can also be found in western Ecuador.

This bird can nevertheless be observed in recently deforested environments if enough forest plots with large trees remain.

Ecology, behaviour

Whooping motmots are solitary birds or else live in pairs, and are often seen perched and waiting for prey to come by. They swing their long tails from side to side like a pendulum when disturbed.

Their call consists of a single extended hoot sound resembling the one produced by owls. Their alarm call is a long rapid staccato of short notes: woo roo roo roo roo roo…

The species is quite widespread in its habitat, but the reduction and fragmentation of forest cover could eventually have a negative effect on its populations.

French name

Motmot caraïbe

Scientific name

Momotus subrufescens

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Birds

Order

Coraciiformes

Family

Momotidae

Size

38 to 43 cm

Weight

Between 75 and 124 g Average of 96 g

Life span

Up to 20 years in captivity

Status

Least concern (IUCN)

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