Day of the Motmot

I wrote a post earlier about the beautiful Motmots showing up at the feeder at Stella's Bakery in Monteverde. And they weren't shy birds either! I was able to get within a few feet of them.

 He's telling another bird to keep away.

 Love their blue crowns.

 Now neither of these had the long tail that you usually see on a Motmot. But here's a picture of what makes their tail special.

Yeah. It's the bald spots in the tail. And guess what. The guys with the best tails get the chicks. Typical! They swing this tail back and forth like a pendulum hence the nickname ClockBirds.

Motmots are turning out to be my favorite bird in Costa Rica. They are really cool. A Motmot sighting is a harbinger of good luck to come! They nest in underground burrows like rabbits. My absolute favorite thing is that they eat scorpions! Here is everything you ever wanted to know about Motmots at this link. And here is what their call sounds like.


But this wasn't even the Day I'm posting about. It was the next day! I woke up and noticed a Motmot west of the house in the field. And then another to the south. And then another to the east! And for all I know there could have been one to the north but I couldn't see in that direction because the house was in the way! So that started off a great day of birdwatching.

Later on Hannah and Francisco came by to pick us up for a hike to Bajo del Tigre and on the way to the trail guess what. Another three Motmots! And these were in the trees right by a yard where a guy was running a noisy weedwacker to cut the grass. Now why would Motmots want to hang out there? Francisco knew! Because cutting the grass was chasing up all these bugs. And that's what Motmots like to eat.

Well I'm still waiting for our local Motmots to show up at the feeder. Hasn't happened yet. But we are having some other interesting things show up. Just not birds.