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The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124<4):815 817. 2012 
A New Location for the Tody Motmot (Hylomanes momotula ) in Costa Rica 
Thomas K. Stevens 1 
ABSTRACT.—The Tody Motmot 1 1Mommies mo¬ 
motula) has a fragmented range throughout Central 
America. 1 present evidence from audio recordings lor a 
new location for this species in Costa Rica. Individuals 
detected likely represent a previously undiscovered 
population in the foothills of the Caribbean Slope ol 
die Tilardn Mountains. A small population ol tody 
Motmots could easily be overlooked in foothill forests 
drained by the Jamaical, San Lorencito, and San 
Lorenzo rivers, which are exclusively on private land. 
Received 6 January 2012. Accepted 21 May 2012. 
The Tody Motmot (Hxlonutnes montotulu) is 
uncommon in its fragmented range from the 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec to northwest Columbia 
(Snow 2001). This species is declining in parts of 
its range (Patten et aJ. 2010). and is highly sensitive 
lo logging and other forms of forest disturbance 
(Parker et al. 1996. Whitman et al. 1998. Tejeda- 
Cruz and Sutherland 2004). Strongholds for the 
species are most likely ihe Caribbean Slope from 
Veracruz to Honduras (Howell and Webb 1995, 
Jones 2003) and the Darien region of eastern 
Panama (Hilly and Brown 1986. Ridgely and 
Gwynne 1989). The Tody Motmot in Costa Rica 
is only found in a narrow elevational range (500- 
1.000 m) on the Pacific Slope of the Cordillera de 
Guanacaste. where it is uncommon and local (Stiles 
and Skutch 1989; Fig. 1). There are no recent 
records from Nicaragua (Martinez-Sanchez and 
School of Geology. Energy, and the Environment. Texas 
Christian University, Fort Worth. TX 76109, USA; e-mail. 
tkstevens92@gmail.com 
Will 2010). and the Guanacaste birds may represent 
the only known population between Honduras and 
Veraguas. Panama (Ridgley and Gwynne 1989. 
Stiles and Skutch 1989. Howell and Webb 1995). 
OBSERVATIONS 
1 detected the Tody Motmot in March 2011 at 
lhe Texas Christian University San Ramon 
Tropical Research Station (10 15.12’ N, 84 
33 3 i' W; Fig. 1). The station is on the Caribbean 
Slope of the Tilardn Mountains (550-750 m asl) 
in the transition zone between tropical wet forest 
and premontane rainforest (Holdridge 1967). 1 
recorded Tody Motmot vocalizations on 17 and 
18 March 2011 between 0600 and 0800 hrs CST 
in mature primary forest (hUp;//www.xeno-canto. 
ore/89088; Fig. 2). All vocalizations were repeat¬ 
ed"single calls at intervals of -1.25 sec, referred 
to by Jones (2003) as a loud, penetrating, hollow 
whoop'. Calling was continuous for up to 5 min at 
a time, and I only noted calls early in morning 
after dawn. A field assistant and I obtained 
recordings on the morning of 18 March from 
locations -700 m apart at similar times; indicat¬ 
ing that more than one individual was present. 
Buff-fronted Quail-Dove (Geotrygon costari- 
censis ). the species most likely lo be contused 
with the Tody Motmot based on vocalization, has 
a minimum elevational range of 1.000 m and has 
not been recorded at this location. Other species 
known from this site with similar vocalizations 
(Gkntcidium g rise iceps. Micrastur sp„ and Tro- 
gon sp.) can all be distinguished from the Tody 
