Howdy, friends.  I know its rough out there, so it is my pleasure to bring you a brief respite with some pretty birds.  This week’s bird is the Trinidad Motmot.  One of the largest motmots, it is native to Trinidad and Tobago, with more of the birds living on Tobago than Trinidad.  This bird does not migrate, and is found only on these islands.  Because getting somewhere else would be a tall order and motmots do not typically fly the necessary distance, it is expected that it will not be found anywhere else in the world, and is estimated to have been isolated for the last 10-15,000 years.  Despite this seemingly grim prognosis, the population appears to be steady, and the birds have proven themselves to integrate well with human habitation.  They prefer forests with large trees, but can live in any area with sufficient trees, including coastlines as well as pastures, plantations and gardens in urban environments.  

Despite its bright coloration, the bird is very good at hiding and often hard to find.  It hunts at dawn and dusk and spends most of its time in between hiding amongst foliage.  When it is hunting it has a varied diet, including berries, large invertebrates like millipedes and scorpions, and even small vertebrates like frogs and lizards.  This diverse diet and ability to hunt it no doubt contributes to the motmot’s adaptability.  Once prey has been spotted they will sally from their perch and grab it, often stopping to bash it against a branch before eating it.  It has also been observed dropping rocks on snails in order to break the shell and expose the animal inside.  A source I found referred to this as “borderline tool use,” but it sounds pretty “tool use” to me.

The birds can dig burrows in which they lay their eggs, but they prefer to take over the empty burrow of another animal.  I found a research paper that said the birds don’t spend a lot of time in these burrows, but also that they leave them when it is time to forage.  As best as I can tell, the implication is that the birds spend the night in the burrow and fledge their chicks there, but otherwise are up in the trees. While the birds are away during the day, they camouflage the entrance to their burrow with nearby vegetation.  One thing I thought was particularly interesting in my research this week is that one of the bird’s strategies when danger approaches is to dance around, waggling its distinctive tail feathers.  The theory is that the bird is saying “I see you, so don’t bother.  I’ll be gone by the time you can strike.”  In a life or death struggle where every calorie counts, I can see that saving everyone a lot of trouble.  The predator can spare the outlay of a failed attack, and the prey doesn’t have to expend energy fleeing.  

Trinidad Motmots forage alone but tend to live in pairs, they do not form flocks. They are monogamous, but I think only for the mating season and while raising chicks, not for life.  They have a courtship ritual I would describe as typical based on all we have learned in these headers.  The male makes a “hoot-hoot” noise to attract a female, and an interested female responds with a single “hoot” of her own.  The male will bring the female twigs, leaves, flowers and grass as, one must assume, a show of foraging competence.  The female broods over the eggs overnight, but both bird will do so the rest of the time.  The species is not sexually dimorphic, males and females look more or less the same. Finally, The Trinidad motmot is featured on the five dollar note of Trinidad and Tobago. I hope everyone has a good weekend and is able to find some rest.  Be good to yourselves.

Links: https://tinyurl.com/2w6a5jz7, https://tinyurl.com/4f2zs3fs, https://tinyurl.com/56khe8cw, https://tinyurl.com/4ph3e9wh, https://tinyurl.com/3mvbb7xx