| Cuban tody | |
|---|---|
 | |
| on Cayo Guillermo | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | Todidae |
| Genus: | Todus |
| Species: | T. multicolor |
| Binomial name | |
| Todus multicolor Gould, 1837 | |
 | |
The Cuban tody (Todus multicolor) is a bird species in the family Todidae that is restricted to Cuba and the adjacent islands. [2]
The species is characterized by small size with a length of 1.1 in (28 mm) and weighing 5.9 g (0.21 oz). It has a large head relative to body size, and a thin, flat bill. Similar to other todies, the coloration of the Cuban Tody includes an iridescent green dorsum, pale whitish-grey underparts, and red highlights. This species is distinguished by its pink flanks, red throat, yellow lores, and blue ear-patch. The bill is bicolored: black on the top and red on the bottom. [2]
The Cuban tody is a year-round resident of only portions of Cuba and the islands just off the Cuban coast. Analysis of song variation suggests that the species is structured into two populations, corresponding to eastern and western Cuba.
The tody, like many resident Cuban bird species, is a habitat generalist. [3] It is known to live in dry lowlands, evergreen forests, coastal vegetation, and near streams and rivers. Cuban toadies may be difficult to see; Vaurie reported, "Only one seen at the Cape, in dense underbrush, but several heard." [4]
They often are seen in pairs. When perched, they sometimes repeat a peculiar short "tot-tot-tot-tot", but their most characteristic call is a soft "pprreeee-pprreeee" (which is the origin of its Cuban common name, 'Pedorrera'). Its wings produce a whirring sound that is used during display flights. [2] [5]
Nests consist of a tunnel about 30 cm (12 in) long in a clay embankment, with a terminal chamber, although sometimes they use a rotten trunk or tree cavity. [2] They cover the walls of the tunnel and the egg chamber with a thick glue-like substance mixed with grass, lichen, algae, small feathers, and other materials. Three or four eggs are laid and they are incubated by both parents. [2]
The diet of the Cuban tody is dominated by insects, but also may include small fruits, small lizards, and spiders. Although the ecology of these birds has been little-studied, they are known to participate in mixed-species flocks. [6] They are also prey used as food items: predators include both the mongoose and humans in poor areas.
The todies are a family, Todidae, of tiny Caribbean birds in the order Coraciiformes, which also includes the kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers. The family has one living genus, Todus, and one genus known from the fossil record, Palaeotodus.
The broad-winged hawk is a medium-sized hawk of the genus Buteo. During the summer, some subspecies are distributed over eastern North America, as far west as British Columbia and Texas; they then migrate south to winter in the Neotropics from Mexico south to southern Brazil. Other subspecies are all-year residents on Caribbean islands. As in most raptors, females are slightly larger than males. Broad-winged hawks' wings are relatively short and broad with a tapered, somewhat pointed appearance. The two types of coloration are a dark morph with fewer white areas and a light morph that is more pale overall. Although the broad-winged hawk's numbers are relatively stable, populations are declining in some parts of its breeding range because of forest fragmentation.
The king rail is a waterbird, the largest North American rail.
The yellow-bellied elaenia is a small bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds from southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula through Central and South America as far as northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago.
The Puerto Rican tody is a bird endemic to Puerto Rico. It is locally known in Spanish as "San Pedrito" and "medio peso".
The Jamaican tody is a species of bird in the genus Todus endemic to Jamaica. Local names for the Jamaican tody include rasta bird, robin and robin redbreast.
The broad-billed tody is a species of bird in the family Todidae, and one of two Todus species found on Hispaniola, along with the narrow-billed tody. They are small insectivorous birds, characterized by their bright green feathers, pink flanks and red throats.
The tropical gnatcatcher is a small active insectivorous songbird, which is a resident species throughout a large part of northern South America. It was formerly considered as conspecific with the white-browed gnatcatcher.
The common tody-flycatcher or black-fronted tody-flycatcher is a very small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds from southern Mexico to northwestern Peru, eastern Bolivia and southern, eastern and northeast Brazil.
The hepatic tanager is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of the genus Piranga are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.
The narrow-billed tody is a species of bird in the family Todidae. It is one of two Todus species endemic to Hispaniola, a Caribbean island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The tawny-shouldered blackbird is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in Cuba and Hispaniola. It is a vagrant in the United States.
The Cuban pewee or crescent-eyed pewee is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in Cuba and the northern Bahamas. It was formerly lumped with the Hispaniolan pewee and Jamaican pewee as a single species, the Greater Antillean pewee.
The Cuban blackbird is a species of bird in the family Icteridae.
The Oriente warbler is one of two species of bird in the Cuban warbler family Teretistridae. It is endemic to central and eastern Cuba.
The red-legged thrush is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. Native to the Caribbean, it is found in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. It formerly occurred on the Swan Islands, Honduras, but was extirpated there.
The loggerhead kingbird is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae.
The Hispaniolan trogon is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae. It is endemic to Hispaniola in the Caribbean. It is one of the only two trogon species found in the Caribbean. It is the national bird of Haiti.
The Cuban black hawk is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Cuba and several outlying cays.
The common black hawk is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes the eagles, hawks, and vultures.
