Todidae: Todies
The todies are five very similar species that occur only in the Greater Antilles: Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and some smaller adjacent islands. All are approximately four inches long, with large heads, round bodies, long bills, short tails and puffy plumage. Their upperparts are brilliant green, underparts whitish, some with yellow or rosy flanks, and all species have ruby-red throats.
Todies are closely related to kingfishers and motmots, which they resemble. Though the family is now exclusively Caribbean, fossils of its lineage, Paleotodus, have been discovered in Europe, so its present distribution is evidently a relict of a much more cosmopolitan past.
Identification
The only identification challenge among the todies is on Hispaniola, where Broad-billed and Narrow-billed occur together (see photos below). Elsewhere there is no overlap, and no other bird is remotely similar to a tody.
Broad-billed and Narrow-billed Todies are most readily identified by voice. Habitat is often a strong clue, but they overlap in some areas. Visual identification is possible, but easy to get wrong. The two species share the same overall plumage pattern, but differ in the tone of their coloration. Narrow-billed is “colder”: deep green above and grayish-white below. Broad-billed is more yellowish-green above and either yellowish or pinkish-white below. Narrow-billed also has a crisp, snow-white whisker mark, whereas Broad-billed’s is merely white. The bill width of their names is not an easy field mark, but they differ in the color on the underside: red in Broad-billed, and mostly blackish in Narrow-billed. Finally, Narrow-billed has white irises, whereas Broad-billed’s eyes are usually all-dark.
References
Farnsworth, A. 2009. Cuban Tody (Todus multicolor), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T.S. Schulenberg, ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.cubtod1.01.
Roberson, D. 2016. Bird Families of the World: Todies, Todidae, http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/todies.html. (Accessed November 28, 2017.)