This colorful bird gets its name from its habitat: it blends most naturally into the picturesque landscape of Puerto Rico's rainforest, with its exotic vegetation and magnificent waterfalls. Although its feathers are very attractive, it is not so easy to spot: it is small — no larger than a matchbox — and it's cleverly camouflaged.
Judging by their appearance, these little cuties should only eat nectar and nest in flowering vines. But it's not a timid bird. Instead, it is a lively bird that, despite its modest size, only 11 cm long and 8.5 grams, is a natural digger and hunter.
The bird leaves its chosen branch only to rejuvenate itself: if an insect of interest to it appears in the field of vision, the bird will quickly take off and attack the victim. Catching prey is accompanied by a loud triumphant click of the beak. This bird is equipped with sharp notches, like forks, that pierce into the bed bug's smooth chitinoid back to prevent it from slipping off. The two front toes on its paws are juxtaposed, and the claws are strong and sharp — such a limb device allows you to dig the ground well, even sitting on the smallest branches at the same time. The upper part of the feather beak has special notches that crush the skulls of hard insects and small reptiles.
The diet of birds is based on wasps, bees, butterflies, dragonflies and other flying and crawling insect spiders. This brave bird can even attack a young lizard. Hunting is often done at height (there is always something to profit from in the dense foliage and juicy stems), but it also moves to the ground. Todi's camouflage is also at the top — bright green feathers seem pretentious to us. But in Cuba's raging jungle, this color is exactly what dissolves in the local vegetation. With such a fancy appearance, Tody doesn't spend much effort chasing food to satisfy his excessive appetite — birds can eat 60% of their body weight in a day without gaining weight.
It's almost indescribably cute! This is a "must see" bird for those traveling to the West Indies. Throughout the woodlands of the island of Cuba, Todis is an amazing forager. In fact, their Puerto Rican counterparts are known to catch one or two insects a minute— hunting from dawn to dusk. It takes about eight weeks to build a cave — first dig it out with its beak, then dig it out with its claws.
Their wings make a deafening machine-gun-like sound, and males use it to drive enemies out of their territory and attract the attention of females in ritual dances. Mating games are much easier than preparing and building apartments. The whole thing is flying one by one, chirping flirting in your ears, stroking fluffy pink feathers on your body, stirring your wings in flight. Their wings buzz no worse than helicopters
Females lay their eggs on the ground. The eggs are spherical, usually 2 to 4 at a time, with both parents involved in hatching, alternating to warm future offspring. After 20 days, the eggs hatch into translucent pink-skinned bare-skin chicks, and after 40 days they will leave the nest completely. For a while, parents would feed them, put food far from home, and let the children train their wings.
Luckily, this unusual and beautiful bird
There is no threat of extinction, although locals say their bird eggs are very tasty