Smooth-billed Ani

IDENTIFICATION: An all-black bird with a long tail, and a high, ridged bill that gives it the vague appearance of a black parrot. Length: 30-36 cm.; weight: males 115 g., females 95 g.

VOICE: Calls include a rising squawk, "quee ick, quee ick" Audio (M. Oberle), and a low "kur-r-rk".

HABITAT: Open country with scattered trees, such as open forests, bushy fields, hedgerows, and pastures, even vacant city lots.

HABITS: The Ani hops or runs in small flocks on the ground, in bushes or trees, eating insects (grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, moths, weevils and other beetles), spiders, lizards, berries and other birdsÆ eggs. The Ani follows or precedes cattle to feed on insects, and occasionally climbs on cattle to feed on parasites. It sometimes flicks its tail while walking. Anis often sit in the open, on branches or fence lines, huddled close together. Sometimes an Ani will preen a neighborÆs feathers. At night and in the heat of the day they may roost in mangroves or dense bamboo clumps. Anis sometimes perch on the ground or in a tree and hold their wings spread out to catch the morning sun, or dry out after a rain. They use the same posture to bathe in a light rain. Because of their short wings, they appear to struggle to keep airborne as they fly, with their long tail trailing behind. They will sometimes fly in single file, following the lead bird into a bush, and "crash-land" into vegetation. Anis are often cooperative breeders. Several pairs defend a territory and construct a large stick nest where the females lay their blue eggs and share in the incubation. One nest near Aguadilla contained twenty eggs in layers of four or five eggs---each layer separated by vegetation. Most of these eggs do not survive. Both sexes incubate the eggs; incubation period is 13-15 days, and chicks fledge 10-11 days after hatching.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: A common, easy to observe species, but was said to be commoner before the introduction of the mongoose.

RANGE: Occurs in the Greater Antilles, Bahamas, and eastern Caribbean; south Florida, parts of Central America, and most of lowland South America to northern Argentina.

TAXONOMY: CUCULIFORMES; CUCULIDAE; Crotophaginae

Photo: A. Sßnchez Mu±oz

Photo: A. Sßnchez Mu±oz


Photo: B. Hallett

Photo: M. Oberle

References

Bent, A.C. 1940. Life histories of North American cuckoos, goatsuckers, hummingbirds and their allies. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 176 (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1964).

Bradley, P. and Y. Rey-Millet. 1985. Birds of the Cayman Islands. P.E. Bradley, George Town, Grand Cayman.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1998. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Mlodinow, S. G. and K. T. Karlson. 1999. Anis in the United States and Canada. North American Birds 53(3):237-245.

Quinn, J. S. and J. M. Startek-Foote. 2000. Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani). No.540 in The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Smooth-billed Ani, Spanish text

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