Ani [1] ( lat. Crotophaga ) - a genus of birds from the cuckoo family . It includes three species, most of them tropical birds of the New World, although the range of the two species reaches the United States . Recent data on the structure of DNA give reason to place them in the subfamily of cuckoo larvae (Crotophaginae) [2] [3] .
| Ani |
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Crotophaga ani |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Subfamily : | Larvae cuckoos |
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Crotophaga Linnaeus , 1758 |
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Unlike some other cuckoos, which are not nesting parasites, but they are characterized by communal nesting, a cupped nest is built in several pairs on a tree at a height of 2-6 meters above the ground. Several females immediately lay their eggs in a single nest, and then they incubate the eggs together in turn and feed the chicks.
Ani are large black birds with a long tail and a strongly furrowed black beak. Their flight is rather weak and unstable, but they run well, and, as a rule, eat on the ground.
These are very social species, they are always found in noisy groups. Ani feed on termites, large insects, and even lizards and frogs. The claim that they are capable of removing ticks and other parasites from ruminants is disputed; while there is no doubt that Ani follow grazing animals to catch scared insects and sometimes eat ticks that have fallen from them, there is no evidence that they can actively remove ticks directly from animal bodies.
The remains of two ani species were found in Pleistocene sediments dating between 1.8 million and 10,000 years ago [4] .
