Smooth-billed Ani Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A fairly large bird with a flat head and a very heavy, rounded bill. Has a long, tapering tail and short, rounded wings.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, smaller than a male Cooper’s Hawk.

  between robin and crow

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 11.8-14.2 in (30-36 cm)
    • Weight: 2.5-4.2 oz (71-119 g)

  © Paul Tavares / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Black overall, with some bronzy gloss to the upperparts in optimal light.

• Behavior

  Hops along the ground or climbs clumsily through low vegetation, looking for insects and small vertebrates, especially lizards, and pouncing on them with large bill. Also forages near cattle or visits army ant swarms to catch prey scared up by their activity.
• Habitat

  Found in dense, low vegetation such as shrubs or small trees in open wetlands and lowlands. Nonbreeding birds sometimes move farther afield in the nonbreeding season, especially during droughts.