Rufous Motmot

The Rufous Motmot, also known as Baryphthengus martii, has an unpronounceable scientific name - a mystery of its own! The first word comes from the Greek baruphthenktes, which could be translated into deep voice (the word baryton surely has the same origin). Martii is a tribute given by Johann Baptist von Spix, a German botanist and zoologist (1781-1826) in honour of Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, a German explorer (1794-1868) with whom he explored Brazil from 1817 to 1820. The Rufous Motmot must have called their attention with its varied vocalizations. It belongs to the largest Motmots, with a size of 42 to 47 cm, and it has a quite distinct black, downcurved beak; directly in front of the beak, a broad loral stripe and black post-auricular patches cover the reddish-brown irised eye. The Crown and nape are a beautiful chestnut brown, as are the breast and upper belly; the Rufous Motmot sports two black eyes on its chest which are not always visible - maybecamouflafe for prey? The underbelly is greenish-blue, the mantle can be of various brown shades, and the back is dark green. Its back and primary coverts are a beautiful turquoise blue, while its primary flight feathers are outremer. The tail is extraordinary: it is almost the size of the bird's body, with two central rectrices measuring roughly 110 mm more than the rest, and its colour seems to vary, usually greyish-green or green at the base, and blue or turquoise at the tip. The thighs are green and the tarsi are dark grey; males and females are indistinguishable, and juveniles are similar in colour to adults, but their colours are asyet dull, and the eyes of the chest are not visible yet.There are two subspecies: Baryphthengus martii which gives its name to the species and which has the particularity of having no racket at the end of the tail, two forms are recognized but which are extremely difficult to distinguish, one qualified as pale which presents a duller rufous color and the other qualified as dark; these two forms being probably brought to cross, recognition will remain difficult. Ssp semirufus is slightly larger than ssp martii, the lower abdomen is more turquoise blue than green and above all semirufus presents the two famous rackets at the end of the tail, this ssp can be confused with another motmot, the large-beaked motmot, Electron platyrhynchum, with which it shares the same distribution area. The difference will be made on the size, the large-beaked motmot is smaller, the alula and the primary covers remain green and the throat is slightly marked with blue.