Motmots are one of my favorite birds. I guess they rank high with me because they tend to sit still and they are beautiful. This makes them good photo subjects.
Motmots are found in the forests of the Neotropics. Motmots are patient, sit and wait predators, roosting quietly, waiting to ponce on an insect or a small lizard that wanders into the reach of a waiting motmot.
Most motmots have “paddles” at the end of their tails. These paddles are called rackets. Rackets are formed because the feather barbs above the rackets are weakly attached and fall out. It used to be thought that the bird removed these barbs, but this has since been proven incorrect.
Rufous Motmot (David Zittin, Costa Rica 2018)
Broad-billed Motmot (David Zittin, Costa Rica 2018)
Tody Motmot (Dave Zittin, Guatemala 2017) This species lives deep in the vine tangle and is difficult to photograph. Note that this motmot does not have tail rackets
Lesson’s Motmot (David Zittin, Guatemala 2017)