Blue-throated motmot

The blue-throated motmot (Aspatha gularis) is a species of bird in the family Momotidae. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.

Taxonomy and systematics
The blue-throated motmot is monotypic. It apparently has no close relatives.

Description
The blue-throated motmot is 25.5 to 28.0 cm long and weighs 56.0 to 67.3 g. It has a long, graduated, tail that in contrast to that of most other motmots does not have racquet tips. The side of the adult's head is ochre with a black "ear" spot. It is mostly green above and paler green below. The throat is blue with a black spot just below it. The juvenile is duller and the green of the back is washed with olive.

Distribution and habitat
The blue-throated motmot is found from Oaxaca and Chiapas in Mexico south and east through Guatemala and a bit of El Salvador to Honduras. It inhabits montane evergreen and pine forest of medium to high humidity. In elevation it ranges from 1300 to 3000 m in Mexico but in Honduras it is not found below 1800 m.

Feeding
The blue-throated motmot forages by plucking insects, especially beetles, from foliage while flying. It also eats some fruit and apparently feeds fruit to nestlings.

Breeding
The blue-throated motmot nests in a burrow that it excavates in an earth bank; the burrows can be up to 1.8 m long and often have bends in them. In Guatemala it lays eggs in April, and a fledgling was collected in late May in Mexico. The clutch size is three.

Vocalization
The blue-throated motmot typically calls from a high exposed perch. It usually gives single "hoot" or "huuk" notes but sometimes strings them together as "hoodloodloodloodl..." .

Status
The IUCN has assessed the blue-throated motmot as being of Least Concern. Though its population appears to be decreasing, its population and range are large enough to achieve that rating