Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Hemme Batjes, Alberto Esquivel and Sylvia Qu and is used with their permission.
SMOOTH-BILLED ANI Crotophaga ani
It may be unfair to call this unusual member of the cuckoo family “ugly”, but lets face it, it won't be winning any avian beauty contests. With his over-sized, casqued bill and scaly face, he wouldn't seem out of place in Jurassic Park, while his uniformly black plumage suggests a sinister personality. But spend a bit of time watching him and you'll find him to be a fascinating, even comical character, loyal to a fault and with an ingenious approach to reproduction. Smooth-billed Anis are co-operative breeders, the offspring of the previous generation helping their parents to raise their new batch of younger siblings - not for them the familiar cuckoo approach of nest parasitism, indeed the birds are often victims of this unseemly practice themselves! Anis aren't the best flyers in the world either, their long tails flapping irritatingly behind them and a real hindrance even in a light breeze as they struggle to retain a level course. You will undoubtedly see a lot of ani families perched along the roadside in Paraguay, but try not to take them for granted, spend a while watching them and you'll feel the smile creeping back onto your face! 
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE3436PH) Adult, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Sylvia Qu June 2008).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE3437PH) Adult, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel November 2007).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE3438PH) Adult, Estancia Laguna Blanca, Departamento San Pedro (Hemme Batjes November 2005)
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE3439PH) Adult, Arroyo Mboi Kae, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith August 2006).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE3440PH) Upperwing, same individual (Paul Smith August 2006).
VIDEO - (FPAVE3441VI) Adult calling, Estancia Laguna Blanca, Departamento San Pedro (Paul Smith December 2009)
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Crotophaga ani
1 (FPAVE3442RE)  Call  recorded PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith March 2007).
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website Xeno-Canto - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.