Profile
In flight
Kingfishers
Jamaican Tody
Todus todus
- rare
- 28 km/h
- Least Concern
Jamaica's only tody, excavating tunnel nests in earthen banks with its bill. Tiny, loud, impossible to miss.
- Population
- Not numerically quantified; described as fairly common/widespread across Jamaica, though trend is suspected decreasing (predation by introduced mongoose, habitat loss, and hunting by rural children cited as pressures)
- Habitat
- All Jamaican forest types from wet montane forest to dry lowland/limestone forest, second growth, shaded coffee plantations, and mangroves; found from coasts up to about 1,500-1,800 m elevation; highest densities in woodland patches mixed with open pasture
- Fun fact
- Nicknamed the "rasta bird" or "robin redbreast" in Jamaica for its bright green back and red throat, the Jamaican Tody is one of only five tody species in the world (genus Todus) and, like its relatives, excavates its own nest burrow into an earthen or limestone bank rather than using a tree cavity.
- Range
- Endemic to Jamaica, occurring island-wide (estimated extent of occurrence ~13,500 km²)
- Diet
- Almost entirely insects and other invertebrates (flies, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, moths, spiders, millipedes), plus small lizards and occasional fruit; sit-and-wait forager that sallies to snatch prey, often from the undersides of leaves, at roughly 1-2 insects per minute
- Size
- 0.1 m
