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