Motmot, << MOT mot, >> is the name of a family of birds related to kingfishers. Motmots live in Central and South America. In most, the tail feathers wear off easily and the end of the tail looks like two tennis rackets. The bird swings its tail from side to side when it is perched, perhaps because predators are likely to spring at the moving tail, rather than at the motionless bird.
Motmots have handsome feathers colored blue, black, green, and cinnamon. The birds range from 61/2 to 20 inches (17 to 51 centimeters) long. Motmots like to live alone, usually in gloomy forests. Some nest in rock crevices, but most nest in tunnels they bore in river banks or in the ground. The female lays three or four eggs. Motmots eat insects, reptiles, and fruit. The motmot has a serrated (saw-edged) bill.
