Momotus
Momotus is a small genus of the motmots, a family of near passerine birds found in forest and woodland of the Neotropics. They have a colourful plumage, which is green on the back becoming blue on the flight feathers and the long tails. The barbs near the ends of the two longest central tail feathers fall off, leaving a length of bare shaft so that tails appear racket-shaped.
| Momotus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Trinidad motmot (Momotus bahamensis) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | Momotidae |
| Genus: | Momotus Brisson, 1760 |
| Type species | |
| Ramphastos momota Linnaeus, 1766 | |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
Momotus species, like other motmots, eat small prey such as insects and lizards, and will also take fruit. They nest in tunnels in banks, laying about four white eggs.
The genus Momotus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the Amazonian motmot (Momotus momota) as the type species.[1][2]
Species
The species complex, the blue-crowned motmot (Momotus momota), has been split into several species.[3][4] The genus now contains seven species:[3]
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Momotus mexicanus | Russet-crowned motmot | Guatemala and Mexico |
_(cropped).jpg.webp) | Momotus momota | Amazonian motmot | eastern Venezuela to north-eastern Argentina |
.jpg.webp) | Momotus coeruliceps | Blue-capped motmot | eastern Mexico |
 | Momotus aequatorialis | Andean motmot | northern Colombia to western Bolivia |
 | Momotus bahamensis | Trinidad motmot | Trinidad and Tobago |
.jpg.webp) | Momotus lessonii | Lesson's motmot | southern Mexico to western Panama |
 | Momotus subrufescens | Whooping motmot | southern Panama to northwestern Peru |
References
- Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 44, Vol. 4, p. 465.
- Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 225.
- Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Todies, motmots, bee-eaters, hoopoes, wood hoopoes, hornbills". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- Stiles, F.G. (2009). "A review of the genus Momotus (Coraciiformes: Momotidae) in northern South America and adjacent areas". Ornitología Colombiana. 8: 29–75.