Friday, March 24, 2023

Jamaican Tody

The Jamaican tody is an unusual bird endemic to Jamaica. With my declining eyesite I really struggled to see them. They are very small, but extremely beautiful and interesting. I saw them at Hotel Mockingbird Hill near Port Antonio, San San a little further east, and high in the Blue Mountains. I did not get a good photo, all are blurred. 

There are five species in the genus, Todus, all found in the Greater Antilles. 
These very poor photos from the Blue Mountains show the backside, a completely different perspective from the slightly better photos later that are from the front and side. 


It is even smaller than the Jamaican pewee, 4.25 inches, compared to 6 inches. Shocking to me, their average flight distance is 5 feet and their maximum flight distance is 85 feet (28 yards - just 28% of the distance of a football field). 
This tody was found in San San. From this angle the bill looks pink and Pinocchioish. The throat looks like the dewlap on an anole. 

From this angle, the bill and throat look completely different, like a sticky attached to a line on a deed informing the seller where to sign.  


It has a bright green head, back and wings; a red throat; a very unusual long, broad and flat pinkish-red bill; a white breast blended with green which is slightly yellow toward the bottom and under the tail-coverts;  and reddish brown feet and legs. 


1 comment:

  1. The fuzzy pictures seem appropriate. They mimic your eyesight.

    ReplyDelete