BeakBrain
Menu
Bird GuideDaily BirdCamsTripsCommunityGet the app

Smooth-billed Ani

Crotophaga ani

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernOmnivoreUrbanPlatform nestMedium · 110 g
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 1
Photo: Alejandro Bayer Tamayo · Public domain
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 2
Photo: gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K · CC BY 2.0
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 3
Photo: gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K · CC BY 2.0
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 4
Photo: Vinicius Cerutti · CC0
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 5
Photo: Gonzalo Roget · CC BY 4.0
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 6
Photo: Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová · CC BY 4.0
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 7
Photo: Douglas Lopes · CC BY 4.0
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 8
Photo: Douglas Lopes · CC BY 4.0
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 9
Photo: Cecilia Fer Díaz · CC BY 4.0
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), photo 10
Photo: gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K · CC BY 2.0

What the Smooth-billed Ani sounds like

Sonogram of the Smooth-billed Ani: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by JUAN ANTONIO ALONSO DE JUAN · Song · Vereda La Máquina, Pacho, Cundinamarca, Colombia · CC BY 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Smooth-billed Ani: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Mario Frasca · Uncertain · Churuquita Chiquita, Penonomé District, Coclé Province, Panama · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The smooth-billed ani is a mid-sized species, larger on average than the groove-billed ani but smaller than the greater ani. It measures approximately 35 cm (14 in) in overall length. Males weigh around 115 g (4.1 oz) while females are lighter and with a weight of around 95 g (3.4 oz). The adult is mainly glossy black, with a long tail, deep ridged black bill and a brown iris. The flight is weak and wobbly, but the bird runs well and usually feeds on the ground. This species is called "el pijul" in Venezuelan folklore. The calls include a whining ooo-leeek.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Smooth-billed Ani

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Smooth-billed Ani

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 40 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Colombia Brazil Ecuador Panama Puerto Rico Peru Cuba Argentina Venezuela Costa Rica Bahamas Trinidad & Tobago Paraguay Bolivia Dominican Republic Cayman Islands Jamaica Guyana United States U.S. Virgin Islands French Guiana Grenada Honduras Suriname Guadeloupe Haiti Turks & Caicos Islands Montserrat British Virgin Islands Dominica St. Vincent & Grenadines Mexico Uruguay Nicaragua Belize Aruba Curaçao St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia Martinique

Recorded as a rare visitor in Chile.

About the Smooth-billed Ani

The smooth-billed ani is a bird in the cuckoo family. It is a resident breeding species from southern Florida, the Caribbean, parts of Central America, south to western Ecuador, Brazil, northern Argentina and southern Chile. It was introduced to Galápagos around the 1960s and is potentially impacting native and endemic species across the archipelago.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris) Groove-billed AniCrotophaga sulcirostrisThe groove-billed ani is about 34 cm (13 in) long, and weighs 70–90 g (2.5–3.2 oz). Greater Ani (Crotophaga major) Greater AniCrotophaga majorThe greater ani is about 46 cm (18 in) in length.

Side by side: Groove-billed Ani vs Smooth-billed Ani · Greater Ani vs Smooth-billed Ani

Learn the Smooth-billed Ani in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Every photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.