Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani (Linnaeus, 1758))
Scientific name: Crotophaga ani (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name: Smooth-billed Ani
French name: Ani à bec lisse
Order: Cuculiformes
Family: Cuculidae
Size: size: 30-36 cm; Weight: 70-133 g; Wingspan: 43 to 45 cm.
Habitat: Open and semi-open country, savannahs, waste lands, cultivated areas.
Food: Mainly insects, grasshoppers, caterpillars and moths, but also lizards, snakes, seeds and fruits.
Nesting: The nest is a bulky cup hidden in dense vegetation. It is built by several birds. Several females lay eggs in the same nest where there may be up to 30 eggs. This gives about 10 chicks which are fed by several adults and sometimes also by the young of the previous year. There may be three broods per year.
Migration: Sedentary. There may be some local moves during the dry season.
Geographic area: South Florida, Central America, the Caribbean's, South America south to north-eastern Argentina.
The Smooth-billed Ani lives in pair or in family group of up to about fifteen birds.
The plumage is black with greenish or purple sheen.
The feathers on the chest or on the back can show a silver greyish border which gives a general look of scales.
The short, thick and smooth bill is very typical with an outgrowth of the upper mandible.
The eyes and the legs are black.
The rather long tail is used for balance.
The Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris), which is found in Central America, in Venezuela and along the Pacific coast south to Peru, is characterized by its bill with horizontal grooves on the upper mandible. Pay attention that some Smooth-billed Anis may show small grooves on the basal half of the upper mandible.
The Greater Ani (Crotophaga major), which is found from Panama south to northern Argentina, is a larger size. It has white eyes and a curved ridge on the upper side of its large bill.

Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani) - French Guiana, France - March 6th 2012
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Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani)
I have shot this picture at Awala Yalimapo, les Hattes, while walking on a footpath going southwards from the D22 road.


Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani) - French Guiana, France - March 11th 2012
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Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani)
I have shot this picture in the small village of Saül.
There was a group of 3 to 4 Smooth-billed Anis on this small shrub, very close to the houses.

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