Broad-billed Tody

Todus subulatus

The broader-billed of Hispaniola's two tody species, hunting higher in the forest than its narrow-billed neighbor.

Population: Not numerically quantified; described as common across its Hispaniola range, with a suspected decline linked to habitat loss (mongoose predation, shift from shaded to non-shaded coffee plantations) not fast enough to qualify as threatened
Habitat: Lowland arid scrub, sub-desert habitat with cacti and agave, shaded coffee plantations, pine forest, and dry to moist forest/mangrove edge, from sea level up to roughly 1,700-2,320 m depending on source; generally avoids dense humid rainforest and occurs at lower elevations than its congener the Narrow-billed Tody
Fun fact: Despite weighing only about 7.5 grams, a nesting pair of Broad-billed Todies has been recorded delivering up to 420 insect feedings a day to a three-chick clutch, among the highest feeding rates documented for any insectivorous bird.
Range: Endemic to the island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti); year-round resident, Extent of Occurrence about 121,000 sq km
Diet: Insectivorous, taking roughly fifty insect families with grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, moths/butterflies, flies, and cockroaches most frequent; also eats some fruit and small anole lizards; hunts via a distinctive "underleaf-sally" technique, snatching prey from leaf undersides in short parabolic sallies
Size: 0.115 m

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