nounplural noun todies

• A small insectivorous Caribbean bird related to the motmots, with a large head, long bill, bright green upper parts, and a red throat.

  Family Todidae and genus Todus: five species

  ‘Like motmots and todies, kingfishers often have brilliant plumage, are largely insectivorous, and nest in cavities that are often excavated in earthen banks.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Oligocene fossils of todies and motmots from Wyoming and France, for example, indicate that the current ranges of these two groups are relictual.’
  • ‘When compared with the BMR of other very small birds, the tody's energetic demands appear unremarkable.’
  • ‘The occurrence of torpor varied with both season and sex: it was observed only in breeding season birds, and only female todies became torpid.’
  • ‘Torpor in the tody, and its association with season and sex, illustrates the unusual character of this tiny bird's thermoregulatory physiology.’