The blue-capped motmot or blue-crowned motmot, is a colorful near-passerine bird found in forests and woodlands of eastern Mexico. This species and the Lesson's Motmot, Whooping Motmot, Trinidad Motmot, Amazonian Motmot, and Andean Motmot were all considered conspecific. The IUCN uses blue-crowned as their identifier for this species; however, it was also the name used for the prior species complex.
Region
Eastern Mexico (Gulf Slope)
Typical Environment
Occurs in humid and semi-humid forests, forest edges, gallery forests, and second-growth woodlands of the Gulf Slope. It also frequents shaded plantations such as coffee and citrus and wooded ravines near streams. The species prefers dense understory near clearings where it can sally from low perches to the ground. It tolerates some habitat modification but declines where forest cover is extensively removed.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
This striking motmot has a distinctive racket-tipped tail that it often swings like a pendulum when alert. It was long lumped within the 'blue-crowned motmot' complex but is now recognized as a separate species restricted to eastern Mexico. Pairs excavate long tunnel nests in earthen banks, sometimes over several weeks. Its mellow hooting calls often carry at dawn and dusk through humid forests.
Temperament
calm and secretive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats between perches
Social Behavior
Usually found singly or in pairs, maintaining territories year-round. Both sexes dig a burrow nest in an earthen bank or road cut, ending in a chamber where 3–4 eggs are laid. They spend long periods perched quietly, occasionally wagging the tail in a pendulum motion. Courtship includes soft calls and allopreening.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives low, resonant hoots and whoop-like notes, often in slow sequences. Vocalizations are most frequent at dawn and dusk and can carry far through the forest.
