Puerto Rican Tody
31 December 2010 | El Yonque National Forest
Devi
We were tickled to see a pair of Puerto Rican Todies today while hiking in El Yunque National Forest. They are so distinctive that I had no doubt that these were the bird I had on my "hope to see" list. You can see in the photo that they sport a bright red bill and bib, emerald green back and yellow on the sides of their belly. My Puerto Rican bird book says that todies have a voracious appetite; a captive specimen ate about 40% of its weight in insects daily. Studies have shown that todies eat 1.8 insects per minute from dawn to dusk. This bird is endemic to Puerto Rico.
You can hear a tody at:http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/caribbean/wildlife-facts/2002/wildlife-facts_sounds_2002/san_pedrito.wav
Photo courtesy of USFS