Blue-capped Motmot

Open encyclopedia reference

The blue-capped motmot (Momotus coeruliceps) or blue-crowned motmot, is a colorful bird in the family Momotidae that is found in forests and woodlands of eastern Mexico. This species and the Lesson's motmot, Whooping motmot, Trinidad motmot, Amazonian motmot, and Andean motmot were all considered conspecific. The IUCN uses blue-crowned as their identifier for this species; however, it was also the name used for the prior species complex.

It is the only species in the former complex where the central crown is blue. There is a black eyemask. The call is a low owl-like ooo-doot. Blue-crowned motmots have a body length ranging from 38 to 43 cm (15 to 17 in). These birds often sit still, and in their dense forest habitat can be difficult to see, despite their size. They eat small prey such as insects and lizards, and will also regularly take fruit.

Like most of the Coraciiformes, motmots nest in tunnels in banks, laying about three or four white eggs.

Wikipedia contributors, Blue-capped motmot; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:02:19.868730+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Momotus coeruliceps (Gould, 1836)

Name authority

(Gould, 1836)

Common name

Blue-capped Motmot

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Coraciiformes

Family

Momotidae

Genus

Momotus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderCoraciiformes
10. familyMomotidae
11. genusMomotus Brisson, 1760
12. speciesMomotus coeruliceps (Gould, 1836)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Momotus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 11 records assigned to Momotidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1174592 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:8VDSY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.