Motmot (blue crowned)

A colourful near-passerine bird found in forests and woodlands of eastern Mexico and Central America

The motmot can move as quickly as a hummingbird warning off predators. their tail swings from side to side when they’re disturbed. Their long “racquet”-shaped tail feathers are bright blue and distracks their enemy.

Motmots feed on insects, crushing them in their bill. They round out this diet with fruit and seldom larger prey like lizards, frogs, and even mice. If the prey is too large to swallow whole, the birds may club it against a branch to kill it. Blue-crowned motmots have also been observed carrying inedible objects, probably in an attempt to court a mate.

The birds live by themselves or in pairs, never in flocks keeping to a feeding territory. Motmots dig elaborate nests below the ground, consisting of a large tunnel extending six feet into an earthen bank. Both male and female cooperate in nest building.

 photographed at the Toronto Zoo