The blue-throated motmot (Aspatha gularis) is a species of bird in the family Momotidae. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.[1]
The blue-throated motmot is monotypic. It apparently has no close relatives.[2]
The blue-throated motmot is 25.5to long and weighs 56to. It has a long, graduated, tail that in contrast to that of most other motmots does not have racquet tips. The side of the adult's head is ochre with a black "ear" spot. It is mostly green above and paler green below. The throat is blue with a black spot just below it. The juvenile is duller and the green of the back is washed with olive.[2]
The blue-throated motmot is found from Oaxaca and Chiapas in Mexico south and east through Guatemala and a bit of El Salvador to Honduras. It inhabits montane evergreen and pine forest of medium to high humidity. In elevation it ranges from 1300to in Mexico but in Honduras it is not found below 1800m (5,900feet).[2]
The blue-throated motmot forages by plucking insects, especially beetles, from foliage while flying. It also eats some fruit and apparently feeds fruit to nestlings.[2]
The blue-throated motmot nests in a burrow that it excavates in an earth bank; the burrows can be up to 1.8m (05.9feet) long and often have bends in them. In Guatemala it lays eggs in April, and a fledgling was collected in late May in Mexico. The clutch size is three.[2]
The blue-throated motmot typically calls from a high exposed perch. It usually gives single "hoot" or "huuk" notes https://www.xeno-canto.org/105904 but sometimes strings them together as "hoodloodloodloodl..." https://www.xeno-canto.org/334607.[2]
The IUCN has assessed the blue-throated motmot as being of Least Concern. Though its population appears to be decreasing, its population and range are large enough to achieve that rating
