Groove-Billed Ani

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Crotophaga Sulcirostris

Groove-Billed Ani

Adults are completely black, with a very long tail almost as long as its body. Feathers around the head are often fluffed up.

Grooves on the bill are visible in closer view. It lacks feathers around the eye.

Juveniles are similar to adults but are duller and bill grooves are indistinct.

BILL: short thick and rounded.

SIZE: measures about 13 inches in length.

WEIGHT: weighs about 70 - 90 grams.

COLOR: black.

Insects and other arthropods.

Open and partly open country, such as pastures, savanna, and orchards.

Southern Texas, central Mexico and the Bahamas, through Central America, to northern Colombia and Venezuela, and coastal Ecuador and Peru.

CALL: A sharp, high two-noted whistle.

NEST: Nest is a bulk and bowl-shaped made of twigs, lined with green leaves.

EGGS: 3 - 4 pale blue eggs.

INCUBATION: 13 -14 days.

They live in small groups of one to five breeding pairs.

They defend a single territory and lay their eggs in one communal nest.

All group members incubate the eggs and care for the young.

Groove-Billed Ani Infographic

SOURCES: https://www.birds-of-north-america.net

Black Birds Seen in North America - Groove-Billed Ani