31 January 2010, El Valle, Cocle Province, Panama

I wish this photo were better, but we were fortunate to have seen this
species at all.

This is the smallest and most secretive of the motmots. We spent a lot of
time trying to track down this highly sought after little bird and
eventually were rewarded with this partially obscured view in deep shade.

Unlike other motmots, this species does not have racquet-shaped tips to its
tail. It ranges locally from southern Mexico to Columbia. There are three
subspecies The form found in Panama is H. m. obscurus which has more dark
markings on the throat than the others.

The habits and natural history of this bird are very poorly known.
According to HBW, it's nest has never been found, but bits of clay adhering
to the bill and tail of collected specimens suggests it probably digs a
hole in an earth embankment similar to other motomots.

Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LZ5 | Leica Televid APO with zoom eyepiece
(borrowed from Canopy Lodge) | hand-held (no adapter)