Broad-billed motmot
| Broad-billed motmot | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom Information | |
| Domain | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Subkingdom | Bilateria |
| Phylum Information | |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Sub-phylum | Vertebrata |
| Infraphylum | Gnathostomata |
| Class Information | |
| Superclass | Tetrapoda |
| Class | Aves |
| Sub-class | Neornithes |
| Order Information | |
| Order | Coraciiformes |
| Family Information | |
| Family | Momotidae |
| Genus Information | |
| Genus | Electron |
| Species Information | |
| Species | E. platyrhynchum |
| Population statistics | |
| Population | 500,000+ (2008) |
| Conservation status | Least concern[1] |
The broad-billed motmot (Electron platyrhynchum) is a coraciiform bird of the family Momotidae, and found in the humid forests of Central and South America.
Description
The broad-billed motmot is small, just over 12 inches in total length. It is a blue-green above and light to pale green on the belly, while the head and chest is a light reddish-brown with large central black chest spots. The bird sports a black face mask, with rounded rather than triangular ends. The bill is black, rather large and has a slight downward curve with serrated edges.
Unique among motmots, the three subspecies east of the Andes Mountains do not sport tail rackets; they are sometimes referred to as "plain-tailed" motmots by ornithologists, some of whom make the claim they should be a distinct species.[2]
Subspecies
- Electron platyrhynchum chlorophrys; Brazil: Mato Grosso, Pará and Goiás.
- Electron platyrhynchum colombianum; northern Colombian lowlands north of the Andes.
- Electron platyrhynchum minus; Honduras to northern Colombia.
- Electron platyrhynchum orienticola; western Brazil: Río Purús.
- Electron platyrhynchum platyrhynchum; western Colombia south to western Ecuador.
- Electron platyrhynchum pyrrholaemum; eastern Colombia south to eastern Ecuador; eastern Peru to northern Bolivia.
Range and habitat
Broad-billed motmots are found in Central and South America, from Honduras as far south as northern Bolivia and east into Brazil. It inhabits humid forested land up to 3,000 feet in the mountains. These birds will sit on a perch and still-hunt, taking insects and small vertebrates such as mice or lizards. They nest in difficult-to-find holes dug into river banks or the forest floor during the wet season (April–May), with the entrance pipe some distance as well as curved before it ends at the nest. Up to three white eggs are laid, with the young leaving the nest some 24 days after hatching.
