Todis
| Todis | ||||||||||
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Jamaikatodi ( Todus todus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Todus | ||||||||||
| Brisson , 1760 |
The Todis ( Todus ) are the only genus of the small family of the Todis (Todidae) in the order of the whackebirds (Coraciiformes).
In this genus there are five species that live exclusively in pairs in strictly defined territories on the Greater Antilles . Todis are very small but stocky. The beak is long and flattened, the tail is short. The plumage is mainly green on the top, red on the throat area and whitish on the belly. Outwardly, males and females hardly differ. The young animals are duller, however, and the throat is often not colored or only slightly red. The coloring of the flanks varies in the different species. Some species have bluish spots under the ears.
Like the flycatcher , they catch their prey, which consists mainly of insects, from a perch in the air. When flying, they make a whirring noise with their short wings.
They build their nests in loamy slopes or in embankments. They dig a long passage with their long, flat beak that goes up to 50 centimeters deep. The brood chamber is at the end of this corridor. The two to five white eggs are hatched by both adult birds. Both parent birds also participate in the rearing of the chicks. In some nests, even more adult birds were seen that helped feed the offspring.
Unlike many other island birds, which have often been severely decimated by habitat destruction and the introduction of alien species, todis are still common.
species
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Family Todidae
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Genus Todus
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Breitschnabeltodi ( Todus subulatus ) - GR Gray , 1847
- The Breitschnabeltodi has a pink and yellow colored belly and a thick beak. The lower bill is colored red.
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Yellow flanked todi or portoricotodi ( Todus mexicanus ) - Lesson , 1838
- The yellow flank mode has light yellow flanks. The male bird has a gray - black iris, while the female bird has a white iris.
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Jamaikatodi or Grüntodi ( Todus todus ) - ( Linnaeus , 1758)
- The Jamaikatodi differs from the other species by the light shade of green on its chest. The locals call him robin redbreast .
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Narrow- beaked todi ( Todus angustirostris ) - Lafresnaye , 1851
- The chest of the Schmalschnabeltodis is colored whitish. Its beak is relatively thin. The tip of the lower mandible is colored black.
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Vielcolorentodi ( Todus multicolor ) - Gould , 1837
- The multi-colored deaths inhabit Cuba .
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Breitschnabeltodi ( Todus subulatus ) - GR Gray , 1847
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Genus Todus
literature
- Joseph Michael Forshaw, Alan Kemp: Kingfishers and Relatives. In: Joseph Michael Forshaw (ed.), David Kirshner: Encyclopedia of the Animal World: Birds. Translated from the English by Derek Vinyard. Orbis, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 978-3-572-01378-4 , p. 143.
