Animalia Life

Todus multicolor
TAXONOMY
Todus multicolor John Gould, 1837, Cuba.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Todier de Cuba; German: Vielfarbentodi; Spanish: Barrancolн Cubano. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 4.3 in (10.8 cm), wing chord 1.7 in (4.4 cm), estimated weight 0.21–0.23 oz (6–6.5 g). Most brilliantly colored tody, with smallest bill. Rosy flanks, yellow undertail coverts. Sky-blue cheek patch and wrists; yellow base of bill, whitish belly. Yellow- green, almost iridescent eyebrow.
DISTRIBUTION
Cuba, including Isle of Pines (Isle of Youth) and larger cays off Cuba’s north coast.
HABITAT
Ecologically adaptable. Locally common in xeric (extremely dry), moist, and wet forests; mountains; and lowlands, especially in gullies. Only tody inhabiting shoreline vegetation. Highest elevation recorded 8,184 ft (2,494 m) (Sierra Maestra).
BEHAVIOR
No recorded movements.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Primarily insectivorous, plus spiders and lizards. Mean foraging height 9 ft (2.6 m) in arid scrub.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Monogamous with striking courtship, exhibiting bright pink flanks. Smallest eggs in family. Breeds April to June. Excavates burrows in earth banks, rotten logs, natural limestone cavities, and (rarely) cave entrances. On Cayo Coco, uses sand at entrances of crab burrows.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. In 1970, common in protected Guantanamo Naval Base. Cuba’s poverty and unstable economy may affect tody populations. Recent pesticide use has reduced tody populations.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
May be eaten in economically depressed areas and, like all todies, a delight to young and old.

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