Rufous Motmot Drops Into the Platform for a Snack | June 11 2024

The Rufous Motmot is is the second largest and arguably the most spectacular of the motmots, even though it lacks the bright, iridescent patches of turquoise blue on its head that are characteristic of many other motmot species. The large size, overall rich coloration and contrast between rufous head and underparts and intensely green-blue green back, wings and tail contribute to the striking appearance of this species.
The Rufous Motmot prefers humid lowland and hill forest where it consumes a large variety of food items ranging from various fruits to invertebrates and even small vertebrates, sometimes in the company of army ants. When foraging, it is a typical low energy specialist sitting quietly on a shaded horizontal branch for long periods of time from which it suddenly darts out after passing insects. It nests in burrows that it digs and/or refurbishes. This species swings its tail in a side-to-side pendulum motion when excited, agitated or disturbed. Considering how spectacular and common this species is in portions of its range, there are relatively few details available on many aspects of its natural history including description of its eggs, incubation period and fledging time, all of which remain unknown.
Watch LIVE 24/7 with highlights and viewing resources at allaboutbirds.org/panamafeeders
The Panama Fruit Feeder Cam is a collaboration between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Canopy Family, and explore.org.
Learn more of what the Canopy Family has to offer at canopytower.com
*******************************
About the Site
The Panama Fruit Feeder Cam is located on the grounds of the Canopy Lodge in El Valle de Antón, Panama. This site is just over 2,000 ft above sea level in the low mountains of Cerro Gaital, with a mild springtime climate year-round. A small stream called Rio Guayabo runs past the feeders in the background, and the lush landscaping of the Canopy Lodge grounds grade into the forested slopes around them. The feeding table is around 40 feet from the main lodge, and is one of several feeders provisioned throughout the day so that guests to the lodge are greeted to spectacular views of many of the common birds found in this ecosystem.
About the Canopy Lodge
The Canopy Lodge is a full service lodge specializing in nature tourism with a focus on birds. It is about 60 miles west of Panama City in the picturesque village of El Valle de Antón, right in the center of the gigantic crater of an extinct volcano. This is the largest inhabited crater in the Western Hemisphere and second only to the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. It is surrounded by the Cerro Gaital Natural Monument.
Canopy Lodge is one of a series of three ecotourism ventures developed by the Canopy Family. The first, Canopy Tower, involved transforming a former U.S. radar station overlooking the Panama Canal in Soberanía National Park into a unique birding lodge embedded in the canopy of the surrounding forest. Their newest property, Canopy Camp, offers a taste of some of the wildest lowland rainforest in Panama in the Darién region.
#birdcams #live #birdfeeder #birds #wildlife #nature #nowplaying #panama

[@megansfo]

Gorgeous bird! 🌺

[@jjfaris]

What a unique name for a bird, striking colors, especially with that blue tail

[@birdzbeeztreez4248]

Very Cool 😎 🦅

[@rik8809]

For what it’s worth, the yellow flowers on the hummingbird feeders tend to attract yellow jackets/wasps. If you don’t mind them, then no worries. Thanks for the video. It was a good way to start the day! 😀