Blue-Crowned Motmot

This bird has back and tail colors of green, olive, and blue. It has a wide black band through the eye.

Metallic blue feathers at the top of its head give the blue-crowned motmot its name. Its beak is short, slightly downcurved, and serrated along the edges of the upper mandible. The long racquet-shaped central tail feathers make motmots easily recognizable. 

Sometimes the birds sit on a branch, methodically swinging their tail back and forth, like a feathered pendulum. They are most vocal at dawn, calling with a soft and monotonous “whoot whoot, whoot whoot.”

Diet

Prey includes small lizards and rodents, frogs, birds, arthropods, centipedes, spiders, butterflies, cicadas, beetles, mantises, and small pieces of fruit. Motmots sit quietly in trees, waiting for prey. They often whack their prey against a branch before eating it. 

Size

Blue-crowned motmots have a body length ranging from 17–20 inches, including tail.

Range

They inhabit a wide geographic range including Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Trinidad, and Tobago.

Population Status

Blue-crowned motmots are common throughout their range. They are not listed as threatened or endangered. 

Predators

Ocelots, margays, birds of prey, and snakes are known to eat motmots. Eggs and chicks may be eaten by small mammals and snakes.

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