The todies
are a family endemic to the Caribbean with five species occurring on four
islands: Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola (2 species) and Puerto Rico. They are
just great little birds -- not much larger than hummingbirds -- that suddenly
appear next to the observer inside woodlands. They sit quietly, scanning
the undersides of foliage, then dash out to snap something up and return
to their perch. Most often they are first located by voice, and most birds
seemed to be in pairs.
The one island that has two todies is Hispaniola, where the Broad-billed Tody Todus subulatus occurs in the lowlands and the Narrow-billed Tody T. angustirostris inhabits montane forests. Can you guess which one is shown above right?
Todies are usually considered to be most closely related to motmots of the neotropics. They are not particularly shy but I found them tough to photograph as they tended to stay in the shade. They puff out their crimson throat patches each time they call, endearing them to the observer.
Photos: The Puerto Rican Tody Todus
mexicanus (top left; the latin name comes from a mistake on the label
of the type specimen) was photographed in Jan 1999 inside dry thornscrub
forest at Guanica Reserve, Puerto Rico. The Broad-billed
Tody T. subulatus (right) was photographed in Jan 1999 on
the grounds of Santo Domingo's botanical garden, Dominican Republic.
All photos © Don Roberson.
Literature:
There is no family book of which I'm aware, although I don't have everything.