The Puerto Rican tody (Todus mexicanus), locally known in Spanish as San Pedrito ("little Saint Peter"), is a bird endemic to the main island of Puerto Rico. In 2022, the tody was approved as the official national bird of Puerto Rico by the legislative assembly. However, the proposal did not advance, largely due to the scientific name of the bird which erroneously identifies it as a native of Mexico. In 2023, the assembly approved a petition to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) seeking the renaming of the tody as Todus borinquensis.
Taxonomy
Todies are the closest relative to the motmots of Central America. It is thought that the Jamaican tody (Todus todus) gave rise to the Puerto Rican tody after hurricane dispersals, but the relationship between both species has not yet been confirmed. Studies show the Todus genus probably developed before the Pleistocene. Mitochondrial gene studies point to the motmots as their closest relative, although egg white protein electrophoresis studies suggest a relationship to kingfishers.
Description
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The Puerto Rican tody is a small, brightly colored, non-passerine forest bird. It is one of the smallest representatives of the order Coraciiformes, with an average body length of 11 cm and weight of 5 to 6 g. The Puerto Rican tody differs from the other todies in that it is the only species without pink or yellow-green colored feathers on its flanks. Apart from insects and seeds, the adults also feed their nestlings frogs and lizards, although between those two, frogs are more common. Most coraciiformes have a body temperature of 40 °C, but Puerto Rican todies can maintain a body temperature of 36.7 °C. This allows them to spend 33% less energy than other Coraciiformes. Puerto Rican Todies can lower their body temperatures by 14 °C.
This physiological response varies by both season and sex; only females in breeding season are capable of becoming torpid, although not all individuals become torpid at the same body temperature. During this torpid stage, they are unresponsive, have their eyes closed and erected plumage, but are capable of taking flight soon after an increase in temperature.