I’ve never gotten to see a motmot in the wild. Maybe someday! I’ve had to be satisfied with seeing them in zoos. In fact, the photos I took as reference for this were from the Syracuse and Toledo zoos. My daughter, on the other hand, was lucky enough to see them in the wild when she went to Costa Rica for a study abroad program last year. I’ve had this sketch ready to paint for ages and just got around to painting it. I kept picking other things because the composition was a bit straightforward compared to what I’ve been drawn to lately.
Motmots are interesting birds in the order Coraciiformes, which also includes kingfishers, todies, bee-eaters and rollers. They definitely look a lot like bee-eaters. A distinctive feature of many of the motmots is their distinctively shaped lollipop-like tail. The individual bracts of the feathers are weaker in the near-distal section of the tail and break off when abraded against branches, leaves, rocks or other obstructions, leaving the racket shape at the end. While the birds are pretty well camouflaged for jungle living, they can often be found because of the way they wag their tails like a pendulum. This is often in response to the individual motmot seeing a predator; it lets the threat know that the motmot is aware of its presence and is ready to take flight. This saves both animals the energy of a chase through the woods. The beautiful tails are also thought to play a role in display when wooing potential mates.
Please contact me if you’re interested in buying the original watercolor or a print of this painting. Some of my work is also available for licensing.
Please contact me if you’re interested in buying the original watercolor or a print of this painting. Some of my work is also available for licensing.
Leave a Reply