TURQUOISE-BROWED MOTMOTS

The other day a tourist visiting the hacienda asked me if the northern Yucatan had any birds as spectacular as the toucans and macaws he'd seen in Guatemala. I replied that our motmots surely were as colorful and exotic, if not quite as large.

Motmots are members of a family of birds restricted to the New World tropics -- they're "neotropical." Taxonomically placed near the Kingfisher Family, they have fairly long, stout bills that curve downward slightly, weak feet, a general preference for forests and forest edges, they are colorful, and -- the most spectacular feature -- barbs inside the two longest tail feathers are absent, so part of the feathers consists of nothing but the naked shafts (the feathers' "midribs"). I've read both that the missing barbs fall out by themselves, and that the bird removes them, and I don't know which is the case.

Ever since I got here in October one or more motmots has been hanging around right outside my door. The species is the Turquoise-browed Motmot, which could hardly be more colorful. Blues, greens blending to yellow, russets, black -- and those incredibly bright, bushy, turquoise eyebrows. You can see one here.

Rarely I've seen more than one, though lately two or three have begun showing up. Still, this week as I fixed breakfast I wasn't prepared when SEVEN suddenly landed on the wires passing over my campfire area, two or three of them issuing their throaty, hoarse, hollow t'k'wok t'k'wok t'k'wok calls, sounding a little like hoarse, very large whip-poor-wills. What an exhibition!

I read that this species nests singly or in colonies of a hundred or more pairs, so maybe my seven motmots on a wire is nothing compared to what can be seen. Still, those seven provided my birding highlight for this week.