The smooth-billed ani is a bird in the cuckoo family. It is a resident breeding species from southern Florida, the Caribbean, parts of Central America, south to western Ecuador, Brazil, northern Argentina and southern Chile. It was introduced to Galápagos around the 1960s and is potentially impacting native and endemic species across the archipelago.
Region
Caribbean and tropical Americas
Typical Environment
Found from southern Florida through the Greater and Lesser Antilles and parts of Central America to much of northern and eastern South America. It occupies open and semi-open habitats such as pastures, scrub, mangroves, and agricultural lands, especially where shrubs and low trees provide roosting and nesting sites. Frequently associates with cattle or horses, taking advantage of insects they disturb. It was introduced to the Galápagos Islands in the 1960s and has expanded locally.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The smooth-billed ani is a highly social cuckoo that lives in cooperative groups, often building a single communal nest in which multiple females lay and incubate eggs. It forages alongside livestock, snatching insects flushed from the grass, and frequently sunbathes with wings spread to regulate temperature and control parasites. It differs from the groove-billed ani by its large, smooth, high-arched bill without deep grooves. Introduced to the Galápagos in the mid-20th century, it has been implicated in negative impacts on native fauna.
Skeleton
In Panama
Smooth-billed ani carrying stick for building nest in Ecuador
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with low, undulating flights
Social Behavior
Lives in cohesive groups of 4–12 or more birds that defend territories together. They practice cooperative breeding, constructing a single domed nest where several females lay clutches, followed by group incubation and chick-rearing. Roosting is communal in dense shrubs or low trees.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are a series of whistled whee-uu and pee-uu notes, along with grating chrrr calls. Calls are often given in chorus by group members, especially at dawn and during social interactions.
Plumage
Entirely black with loose, shaggy-looking feathers and a subtle glossy sheen; very long, graduated tail.
Diet
Primarily feeds on insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and caterpillars. Also takes small vertebrates including lizards and frogs, as well as spiders and other arthropods. Fruits and berries are eaten seasonally, and it may opportunistically consume eggs or nestlings of small birds.
Preferred Environment
Forages on the ground and in low vegetation in pastures, field margins, and scrubby edges. Frequently follows livestock to capture insects flushed from grass and occasionally hawks prey from short sallies.
