Quantcast

Smooth-billed Ani

Crotophaga aniOrder: CUCULIFORMESFamily: Cuckoos and Roadrunners (Cuculidae)
Smooth-billed Ani Breeding Male Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Curved (up or down)
  • Eye Color: Dark brown.
  • Head Pattern: Plain
  • Crown Color: Black with iridescent bronze overtones.
  • Forehead Color: Black with iridescent bronze overtones.
  • Nape Color: Black with iridescent bronze overtones.
  • Throat Color: Black with iridescent bronze overtones.
  • Cere color: No Data
Smooth-billed Ani Breeding Male Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 30-36 cm (12-14 in)
  • Weight: 119 g (4.2 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: Black
  • Underparts: Black with iridescent bronze overtones.
  • Upperparts: Black with iridescent bronze overtones.
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Smooth-billed Ani Breeding Male Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Slow weak flight, alternating a series of rapid shallow stiff wing beats with short glides.
  • Wingspan Range: 43-46 cm (17-18 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Rounded Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Black
  • Under Tail: Black
  • Leg Color: Black
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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 ani
Length12 - 14 Inches
Wingspan17.5 Inches

Smooth-billed Ani

Smooth-billed Ani: Medium-sized, shaggy bird, black overall with bronze overtones, thick bill and long tail, often bobbed, wagged, and held beneath body. Feathers on upper breast and back are lined with iridescent silver and are scaled. Flight is slow and weak,often low to the ground.

● Song: "kweeeelik", "weu-ick, weu-ick"

● Foraging & Feeding: Smooth-billed Ani: Eats mainly insects, but also takes lizards, cattle parasites, snails, seeds, fruits, and berries; forages in scrublands and fields, usually on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Smooth-billed Ani: Three to six pale blue eggs are laid in a nest made of twigs and weeds, lined with grass, and built 5 to 30 feet above the ground in a dense shrub or tree. Eggs are incubated for 14 days by both parents, sometimes assisted by extra birds.

● Similar species: Smooth-billed Ani: Groove-billed Ani has smaller bill with a smooth curvature to the bend and grooves, different call, and is found in south Texas; ranges do not overlap.

Flight Pattern

Slow weak flight, alternating a series of rapid shallow stiff wing beats with short glides.
Smooth-billed Ani Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Smooth-billed Ani: Resident in southern Florida; also found in American tropics. Frequents open agricultural country, often near cattle or other livestock; also found in scrub and thickets.
BreedingCooperative, Communal
PopulationUncommon and local
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight4.2 Ounces