Narrow-billed Tody

Todus angustirostris

Shares Hispaniola with the Broad-billed Tody but lives higher in the mountains. Two species, one island, strict elevations.

Population: Not numerically quantified; described as fairly common. BirdLife's population trend justification (confirmed verbatim via DataZone) states tree cover within its mapped range declined ~7% over the past decade, translating to a suspected 1-19% population decline with a best estimate of 5-9%; overall trend is "decreasing" but not classified as rapid
Habitat: Dense subtropical/tropical moist montane (broadleaf) forest and secondary forest, mainly 900-2,400 m elevation (BirdLife's broader range layer extends 0-3,200 m), with local occurrence down to lower elevations/plantations where its range overlaps the Broad-billed Tody
Fun fact: During courtship the Narrow-billed Tody performs a display flight with an audible wing-rattling sound unique among its order (Coraciiformes), and both sexes excavate the burrow nest and share incubation duties.
Range: Endemic to the island of Hispaniola, shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti; BirdLife DataZone gives extent of occurrence as 121,000 km² (confirmed directly from factsheet), while oiseaux.net reports a smaller ~74,000 km² figure; non-migratory/sedentary
Diet: Almost entirely insectivorous; sallies from a perch to snatch insects and other invertebrates off leaf surfaces (at least 49 insect families recorded in the diet); notably avoids larger butterflies and caterpillars
Size: 0.11 m
Lifespan: 8.7 years

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