Todus
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| Todus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Jamaican tody (Todus todus) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | Todidae |
| Genus: | Todus Brisson, 1760 |
| Type species | |
| Alcedo todus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
 | |
| Global range (in green) | |
Todus is a genus of birds found in the Caribbean. It is the only genus within the todies family Todidae. The five species are small birds of the forests of the Greater Antilles: Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba, with adjacent islands, have one species each, and Hispaniola has two, the broad-billed tody in the lowlands (including Gonâve Island) and the narrow-billed tody in the highlands.[1][2]
Extant species
The genus Todus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the Jamaican tody (Todus todus) as the type species.[3][4] Todus is a Latin word for a small bird mentioned by the Roman playwright Plautus and the grammarian Sextus Pompeius Festus.[5] This name had earlier been used for the Jamaican tody by the Irish physician Patrick Browne in his book The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica that was published in 1756.[6]
Five species are recognized:[7]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
.JPG) | Todus multicolor | Cuban tody | Cuba |
 | Todus subulatus | Broad-billed tody | Hispaniola |
 | Todus angustirostris | Narrow-billed tody | Haiti and the Dominican Republic. |
.jpg) | Todus todus | Jamaican tody | Jamaica |
_RWD.jpg) | Todus mexicanus | Puerto Rican tody | Puerto Rico |
Former species
- Emperor fairywren (as Todus cyanocephalus)[8]
- Leaden flycatcher (as Todus rubecula)[9]
Description
Todies range in weight from 5 to 7 g and in length from 10 to 11.5 cm. They have colourful plumage and resemble kingfishers in their general shape. They have green heads, backs and wings, red throats (absent in immature Puerto Rican, broad-billed, and narrow-billed Todies[1]) with a white and blue-grey stripe on each side, and yellow undertail coverts; the colour of the rest of the undersides is pale and varies according to species. The irises are pale grey. They have long, flattened bills (as do many flycatching birds) with serrated edges; the upper mandible is black and the lower is red with a little black. The legs, and especially the feet, are small.[2] Todies are highly vocal, except that the Jamaican tody seldom calls in the non-breeding season (August to November);[1] they give simple, unmusical buzzing notes, beeps, and guttural rattles, puffing their throats out with every call.[2] Their wings produce a "strange, whirring rattle", though mostly when courting or defending territory in the Puerto Rican tody.[1]
