[toh-dee] 
| any of several small West Indian birds of the family Todidae, related to the motmots and kingfishers, having brightly colored green and red plumage. |
| to·dy (tō'dē) n. pl. to·dies Any of various small birds of the family Todidae, of the West Indies, related to the kingfisher and the motmot and having colorful, predominantly green plumage and a bright red throat. [Probably from French todier, from New Latin Todus, genus name, from Latin todus, a kind of small bird.] |
tody
any of five species of small, brilliantly coloured forest birds constituting the genus Todus of the order Coraciiformes. They occur in the West Indies. Four distinct but closely related broad-billed todies may be found on the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Hispaniola (some systems of classification group them in a single species, Todus subulatus). The fifth, the narrow-billed tody (T. angustirostris), is found only on Hispaniola. About 9 to 12 cm (3.5 to 5 inches) long, all have grass-green backs and bright red bibs. They dig tiny nest burrows in sandbanks and feed on insects, caught on the wing
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