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Groove-billed Ani

Crotophaga sulcirostrisOrder: CUCULIFORMESFamily: Cuckoos and Roadrunners (Cuculidae)

Groove-billed Ani Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Groove-billed Ani: Medium-sized black bird with iridescent blue and green overtones, with a very long tail (half the length of the bird). Bill is huge, with arched ridge and narrow grooves. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Groove-billed Ani: Resident in lower Rio Grande Valley; also occurs in American tropics. Preferred habitats include semi-open habitats, avoiding unbroken forests, including overgrown fields, thickets, and woodland edges.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"TEE-hoe", "wee-cup"

Interesting Facts

 The Groove-billed Ani lives in small groups of one to five 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.

 Its membership in the cuckoo family is revealed by its two-toes-foreward, two-toes-back foot arrangement.

 In flight, their long tail, which appears as if on a hinge, swings up and down and from side to side like a pendulum, and looks as though it might drop off.

 A group of anis are collectively known as a "cooch", "orphanage", and "silliness" of anis.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Groove-billed Ani
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Roadrunners and Cuckoos (Cuculidae)
Species Crotophaga sulcirostris
Length12 - 14 Inches
Wingspan17 Inches

Groove-billed Ani

Groove-billed Ani: Medium-sized black bird with iridescent blue and green overtones, with a very long tail (half the length of the bird). Bill is huge, with arched ridge and narrow grooves. Feeds on insects, ticks, spiders, lizards, fruits, berries and seeds. Flies low to the ground.

● Song: "TEE-hoe", "wee-cup"

● Foraging & Feeding: Groove-billed Ani: Forages by following livestock to catch insects disturbed by grazing; sometimes picks ticks from the backs of cattle. Also takes fruits, berries, small lizards, frogs, and snakes.

● Breeding & nesting: Groove-billed Ani: Three to four pale blue eggs are laid in a nest made of sticks, lined with fresh vegetation, and built from 5 to 15 feet above the ground in a low tree or shrub. Incubation ranges from 13 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents; alpha male may incubate at night.

● Similar species: Groove-billed Ani: Smooth-billed Ani has a larger bill with a smooth curvature to the bill angle and grooves, and different voice. Common Grackle has long, pointed bill, pale eyes, and male has long, keeled tail.

Flight Pattern

Flies low to the ground, alternating between rapid shallow wing beats and short glides.
Groove-billed Ani Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Groove-billed Ani: Resident in lower Rio Grande Valley; also occurs in American tropics. Preferred habitats include semi-open habitats, avoiding unbroken forests, including overgrown fields, thickets, and woodland edges.
BreedingMonogamous, Communal
PopulationFairly common to common
MigrationMigratory
Weight3.1 Ounces