Greater Ani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
[Photo] Greater Ani (Crotophaga major). Napo Wildlife Centre, Amazonian Rainforest, Napo, Ecuador. Date: Taken on August 4, 2007. Source: Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/surgenor/1506490328/). Author: Malcolm Surgenor (www.flickr.com/photos/surgenor/).
The Greater Ani, Crotophaga major, is a large near-passerine bird in the cuckoo family. It is a breeding species from Panama and Trinidad through tropical South America to northern Argentina.
This ani is found in mangrove swamps, semi-open woodland near water, and the edges of forests. It is a seasonal smigrant in at least some parts of its range. The nest, built communally by several pairs, is a deep cup lined with leaves and placed usually 2-5 m high in a tree. A number of females lay their chalky deep blue eggs in the nest and then share incubation and feeding. Nests have been found containing 3-10 eggs.
The Greater Ani is about 48 cm long and weighs 170 g. The adult is mainly blue-glossed black, with a long tail, massive ridged black bill, and a white iris. Immature birds have a dark iris.
This is a very gregarious species, always found in noisy groups. The calls include croaking and turkey-like gobbling kro-koro. The Greater Anis feed on large insect and even lizards and frogs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Ani
| The text in this page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article shown in above URL. It is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL. |
|
