Anis & Cuckoos - In Belize | Belize Budget Suites

Ani & Cuckoos - in Belize

Smooth-Billed Ani

Smooth Billed Ani

Smooth Billed Ani - Anis are bizarre, coal-black cuckoos with long floppy tails and unique, very deep and broad-sided bills. They occur in tropical lowlands and foothills, in a variety of open and semiopen habitats. Smooth-billed is very similar to Groove-billed Ani, but the two species only overlap on a few Caribbean islands, southern Central America, and northern South America. Smooth-billed is slightly larger, with overall smooth sides to the bill. The typical calls of the two species are different; Smooth-billed has a hawklike, whistled scream.
BELIZE HABITAT - Ground and lower strata along edge of second growth scrub, fallow fields, littoral forest edge.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Occasional winter visitor to north cayes where it may occasionally remain to breed, at least on Ambergris Caye. Not recorded from mainland.
Interesting Facts

Smooth-billed Anis look rather like large songbirds, but they are in a different taxonomic order. They are related to cuckoos and roadrunners. One distinguishing feature of this group is their feet, which are "zygodactyl"—with two toes pointing forward and two pointing backward.
Smooth-billed Anis often forage in vine tangles, thorn trees, bamboo, and reeds, using their outsized upper mandible to knock leaves out of the way as they keep their eyes trained on their prey.
Smooth-billed Anis (and other ani species) have unusual social lives. They live in small groups of 1–5 breeding pairs, and up to 17 individuals. All the females lay their eggs in one communal nest. All group members incubate the eggs and care for the young.
While a group of Smooth-billed Anis forages, one member often sits on a high perch as a lookout, watching for danger.
When several Smooth-billed Anis lay eggs in the same nest, they often bury older eggs with twigs and leaves, creating layers of eggs (up to 36 in one nest). Only the top layer eventually hatches.
Juvenile Smooth-billed Anis that hatch early in the summer often stay with their family group as the birds begin a new nest; the newly fledged birds then help feed youngsters from the second nest.

Groved-Billed Ani

Groved Billed Ani

Groved Billed Ani - Entirely black bird with long tail that seems loosely attached. Named for its thick, grooved bill with a curved top, but grooves often difficult to see. Widespread through Central and South America, north to southern Texas. Most similar to Smooth-billed Ani, which lacks the grooved bill. Most often found in small flocks. Prefers open shrubby habitats such as weedy lots or woodland edge.
BELIZE HABITAT - Ground and lower strata within second growth scrub, fallow fields, forest edge.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Common resident on mainland away from extensive forest and on Ambergris Caye; regular winter visitor to Caye Caulker and occasional transient on other cayes.
Interesting Facts

With their all-black plumage and giant bills, anis look very little like their relatives in the cuckoo family. But they share the “zygodactylous” arrangement of their toes: two set forward and two back. Parrots and woodpeckers also have this toe arrangement.
The Groove-billed Ani has a long tail that it twitches and flips around frequently, possibly helping the bird startle insect prey into flushing.
Like other anis, the Groove-billed Ani lives in small groups of 1–5 breeding pairs. They defend a single territory and lay their eggs in one communal nest. All group members incubate the eggs and care for the young.

Cuckoos - in Belize

Yellow-Billed Cuckoo

Yellow Billed Cuckoo

Yellow Billed Cuckoo - Brown above and white below with yellow bill. Long tail with black-and-white spots on underside. Wings flash rufous in flight. Stealthy and shy as it moves through dense forests and riparian areas. Favors tent caterpillars. Winters in South America.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy in most forest habitats, including mangroves, forest edge, and second growth scrub.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Uncommon (mainland) to common (cayes) spring and autumn transient, mid-April to early June and late August to early November.
Interesting Facts

Yellow-billed Cuckoos are among the few bird species able to eat hairy caterpillars. In the East they eat large numbers of tent caterpillars—as many as 100 in one sitting.
Yellow-Billed Cuckoos don’t lay their eggs all at once: the period between one egg to the next can stretch to as long as five days. This “asynchronous” egg laying means the oldest chick can be close to leaving the nest when the youngest is just hatching. When food is in short supply the male may remove the youngest bird from the nest, though unlike their relative the Greater Roadrunner, they don’t feed them to the older siblings.
If threatened, nesting pairs of Yellow-billed Cuckoos will react with a “distraction display” designed to lure potential predators away from the nest site. While one bird remains on the nest, the other hops to a visible perch, opening its wings and pumping its tail up and down. In open nesting areas, a bird flushed from the nest flutters away in a slow, wavering flight, flashing its rufous wing patches and white tail spots.
Yellow-Billed Cuckoos have a primal-sounding, croaking call that they often give in response to loud noises. Their tendency to call at the sound of thunder has led to their colloquial name, the “rain crow.”
Yellow-billed Cuckoos sometimes lay their eggs in other birds’ nests—although they don’t do this nearly as often as the Common Cuckoo of Eurasia, which made the behavior famous. When outbreaks of cicadas, tent caterpillars, gypsy moths, and other prey create an abundant food supply, Yellow-billed Cuckoos sometimes lay eggs in nests of other cuckoos as well as in those of American Robins, Gray Catbirds, and Wood Thrushes.
Both parents build the nest, incubate the eggs, and brood the nestlings. They incubate and brood equally during the day, but the male takes the night shift. The male brings nest material every time he comes to the nest to take his turn. The female usually takes the offering and works it into the nest.
Yellow-billed Cuckoos have one of the shortest nesting cycles of any bird species. From the start of incubation to fledging can take as little as 17 days. Although born naked, the young birds develop quickly; within a week of hatching the chicks are fully feathered and ready to leave the nest.

Black-Billed Cuckoo

Black Billed Cuckoo

Black Billed Cuckoo - Slender, long-tailed bird more often heard than seen. White below and brown above, with black bill. Separated from Yellow-billed Cuckoo by bill color, uniformly brown outer wings (not rufous) and smaller white spots on underside of tail. Feeds mainly on caterpillars and other insects. Found mostly in deciduous woodlands, especially areas with thick secondary growth. Often sits motionless for long periods of time and is difficult to spot. Listen for its song, a repeated series of soft "cu-cu-cu" notes.
BELIZE HABITAT - Mid-levels to sub-canopy within broadleaf forest.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Occasional spring and autumn migrant, mid-April to mid-May and late September to mid-November.
Interesting Facts

Cuckoos eat lots of spiny caterpillars, and those spines end up sticking to the lining of their stomach. To get rid of the spines, they periodically shed the stomach lining, coughing it up in one giant pellet, similar to an owl.
Both Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos are sometimes called “rain crows” because, according to folklore, they tend to call just before rain starts to fall.
The Common Cuckoo of the Old World is famous for laying its eggs in other birds’ nests. Black-billed Cuckoos occasionally do this, but more often they build their own nest and raise their chicks themselves, as most birds do.
The time from egg laying to fledging is 17 days and is among the shortest for any bird. At 6 days old, nestlings look like little porcupines with long pointed feather sheaths (a thin tube of keratin that surrounds and protects a developing feather). When they are ready to leave the nest their feathers pop out of the sheaths like popcorn, turning the spiky nestling into a fully feathered bird.
When young birds are threatened they strike a pose similar to an American Bittern with their neck outstretched and bill pointed skywards.
Cuckoos have zygodactyl feet—2 toes point forward and 2 toes point backward. Owls, Osprey, and woodpeckers also have zygodactyl feet.

Squirrel Cuckoo

Squirrel Cuckoo - Very striking and long-tailed bright rusty cuckoo, widespread in tropical lowlands and locally up into foothills. No similar species in Mexico and Central America. Occurs in a wide range of wooded and forest edge habitats. Mostly forages stealthily at mid-upper levels in trees, where can be surprisingly difficult to see. Often seen swooping across roads and eliciting a ‘wow’ reaction. Underside of white-tipped tail feathers is rusty overall in West Mexico, blackish overall in other areas.
BELIZE HABITAT - Most broadleaf forest and forest edge; less common in pine forest.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Fairly common resident on mainland and Ambergris Caye.

Pheasant Cuckoo

Pheasant Cuckoo - Very retiring and elusive cuckoo of tropical forest, heard far more often than seen. Sings mainly in spring and summer, and at other times appears absent from areas where it may actually be fairly common. Feeds mostly on the ground, walking stealthily, but usually sings from mid-upper levels in trees, when it is most likely to be seen. Oddly shaped, with small head (rusty crest often raised and lowered) and very long, fan-shaped, (‘pheasant-like’) tail.
BELIZE HABITAT - Ground to sub-canopy within primary and secondary broadleaf forest; dense second growth.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Regular and local resident, with records from widely scattered localities in interior from near sea level to 3,000 feet elevation. Poorly known in Belize.

Stripped Cuckoo

Stripped Cuckoo - Long-tailed, fairly small cuckoo of tropical lowlands, rarely seen unless singing its loud and far-carrying song, usually from a fence or other low perch. Most of the time it is furtive, feeding on or near the ground in dense growth. Found in scrubby woodland and edge, overgrown weedy fields, and thickets, often with dense grasses. Note the striped upperparts and plain buffy underparts. While singing it often raises and lowers its dark crest.
BELIZE HABITAT - Lower strata within open second growth scrub and fallow fields. Sings from exposed perch.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Locally fairly common resident in lowlands on mainland nearly throughout except for west Orange Walk. More often heard than seen.

Mangrove Cuckoo

Mangrove Cuckoo - Slender, long-tailed bird found in shrubby woodland (especially mangroves). Brown above and buffy below with gray cap, black mask, and bold black-and-white pattern on underside of tail. Bill is black on top, yellow below. Similar to Yellow-billed Cuckoo, but note buffy belly, black mask, and no rufous in the wings. Shy; tends to sit still for long periods of time, can be difficult to spot. Song is a series of low croaking notes, gradually becoming longer and lower-pitched. Feeds primarily on insects and small reptiles.
BELIZE HABITAT - Littoral forest, mangroves, riverine forest, forest edge, and scrub.
Where can you find this bird in Belize?
Status poorly known; at best, very uncommon and local resident along coast and lowland waterways west to New River in north Belize. Formerly bred on a few north cayes and still occurs as occasional migrant, but now apparently extirpated as breeding species on cayes. Nesting habitat has been steadily covered for residential and commercial development. A specimen from San Ignacio Cayo take on April 8, 1926 is the only record away from coastal plain.
Interesting Facts

The Mangrove Cuckoo was once thought to be fully migratory in Florida, but, winter sightings are becoming increasingly frequent in all parts of its Florida range. It is silent outside of the breeding season, and consequently becomes almost undetectable.
Like other cuckoos, the Mangrove Cuckoo has four toes on each foot in a "zygodactyl" arrangement, with two toes forward and two behind, rather than the three-forward, one-back of most other birds.