Broad-billed motmot

Electron platyrhynchum

Photo by Joost Brandsma (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
broad-billed motmot (en); udu-de-bico-largo (pt); motmot à bec large (fr); momoto picoancho (es); plattschnabelmotmot (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Coraciiformes
Family Momotidae

Range:
This species is found from the Honduras south to Peru, northern Bolivia and north-western Brazil. It is mostly absent from northern Brazil, Venezuela and the Guyanas.

Size:
These birds are 30-40 cm long and weigh 55-66 g.

Habitat:
The broad-billed motmot is mostly found in moist tropical forests, also using dry tropical forests and degraded patches of former forests. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.100 m.

Diet:
They feed mainly on insects and their larvae, particularly cicadas but also butterflies and dragonflies. They also take spiders, centipedes, small frogs and lizards.

Breeding:
Broad-billed motmots breed in March-July. The nest is a deep burrow excavated into a bank, often over a river or stream. There the female lays 2-3 eggs which are incubated by both parents for about 3 weeks. The chicks are fed insects by both parents and fledge 24-25 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as fairly common but patchily distributed. It is suspected to loose 13-14 % of suitable habitat over the next decade based on a model of Amazonian deforestation, so the population is likely to suffer a small decline n the near future.

Blue-crowed motmot

Momotus momota

Photo by Steve Garvie (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
blue-crowned motmot (en); udu-de-coroa-azul (pt); motmot houtouc (fr); barranquero coronado (es); blauscheitelmotmot (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Coraciiformes
Family Momotidae


Range:This species is found from eastern Mexico, through Central America and into Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, the Guyanas, northern and central Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina. They are also found in Trinidad and Tobago.

Size:These birds are 41-48 cm long and weigh up to 175 g.

Habitat:Blue-crowned motmots are found in a wide range of forested habitats, including tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, coastal forests, mountainous forests semi-arid open woodlands, and secondary vegetation. They can also be found on the edges of rainforests, secondary growth forests, plantations, pastures and rural gardens. They are found from sea level up to an altitude of 2.400 m.

Diet:They mostly eat invertebrates, including butterflies, cicadas, beetles, mantids, spiders, earthworms, centipedes, and snails, but also fruits, small lizards, frogs, birds and small rodents.

Breeding:Blue-crowned motmots mostly breed in August-October. They nest in a burrow excavated into the side of a cliff, river bank or roadside or sometimes use rock crevices. There the female lays 3-4 white eggs which are incubated by both parents for 21 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 29-31 days after hatching, but only become fully independent 3-5weeks later.

Conservation:IUCN status - LC (Least concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and a global population estimated at 5-50 million individuals. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.