The Trinidad Motmot is distinguished from other members of the Blue-crowned Motmot group by its rufous...

The Trinidad Motmot is distinguished from other members of the Blue-crowned Motmot group by its rufous underparts, the shortest tail and a variety of other feather differences.

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For these reasons, Trinidad is a specialty treat for thousands of birdwatchers who love motmots and the 470 bird species found there. The motmot’s weak flying ability has led to the isolation of the species on the island, which is about 11 km (6.8 mi) off the Venezuelan coast.

The Trinidad Motmot has a single-note “whooop” call instead of the double-note “ooo-dot” hoot of other members of the group of Blue-crowned Motmots. This beautiful group of birds is found in humid forests from Mexico to southern Brazil.

Patience and an experienced birding guide with a spotting-scope are often required to spot the bird (both sexes look alike). 

Trogon Tours schedules a regular February bird photography tour to Trinidad. The trip focuses on Trinidad’s specialty species of motmots, tanagers, the Bearded Bellbird and others. Multi-flash hummingbird photography will be demonstrated at feeders. Scarlet Ibis, Red-billed Tropicbird and other water birds will be photographed on boat trips. Ken Archer, a multiple winner in the Nature’s Best Photography Contest, will lead the tour.

All Blue-crowned Motmots prune their long, blue-green tail feathers to a tennis racket shape. That shape is not just ornamental.

The Trinidad Motmot as well as the other Blue-crowned Motmots swing their long, racket-shaped tails side to side. When hawks, falcons or other birds of prey perch nearby, the motmots' tennis-racket-tipped tails become even livelier. Raptors tend to focus on less vigilant animals, and the tail movements of an individual bird communicate its ability to escape, effectively deterring attacks. 
Blue-crowned Motmots are predator as well as prey. 

They are the smallest avian predator in Central America of bats. The motmots vigorously shake bats by the neck, eventually swallowing them head-first. The birds rest for about 30 minutes before flying away. 

Blue-crowned Motmots also eat hummingbirds and bird nestlings. Motmots bang them against a solid surface to remove feathers and break bills before swallowing them. 

Arthropods and fruit are the most important items on the Blue-crowned’s menu, but spiders, worms, small snakes, lizards and other small prey are welcome, too. 
Researchers with the University of Georgia (U.S.) and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center found that planting fruit-bearing trees and shrubs near Costa Rican plantations results in a 50 percent increase in bird-species density, including motmots. 

Actually, the protein-rich insects gleaned from the fruit trees are nutritionally more important than the fruit, reported the scientists in the journal Biotropica.

Blue-crowned Motmots are routinely the most aggressive bird in their habitat. If the surface area of earthen banks needed for nest tunnels is limited, or if patches of tall forests are too scattered or small, Blue-crowned Motmots assertively push Turquoise-browed Motmots, Great Kiskadees and Boat-billed Flycatchers from the areas.

(Photo: Nate Chappell)

I believe that the more we watch, photograph, study and enjoy motmots the better for these birds, all birds, all wildlife and humans.

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