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⚠️It’s Wednesday so you know what that means...#CrowOrNo time!!! 🎉 What will be your guess today? I can’t wait to find out! Answer at around 5:30PST. #crow #scicommgame 
Well if I thought there was ani chance of fooling you I was sure wrong! Most everyone nailed this week’s challenge. These are neither crows nor corvids, they’re smooth-billed anis!
I captured this pair while on a trip to Costa Rice last year. The best tell that it’s not a corvid is (as may of you pointed out 🥰) the lack of nasal bristles! The long tail is also a good indicator because none of the Corvus sps have extra long tails, though many corvids do.
(As a reminder: family>genus>species. Corvid refers to the family corvidae which includes crows, ravens, jays, magpies, etc. The genus that only the crows, ravens, rooks and jackdaws belong to is Corvus).
So what is this rather curious bird? Anis are members of the cuckoo order, cuculiformes. Their profile is certainly cuckoo-like, apart from that rather bulky bill!
A fun fact I just recently learned: smooth billed anis live in groups of multiple breeding pairs that defend a single territory. That’s not so wild until you learn about the nest. As a group they build one communal nest and lay all their eggs in it! 😱
So I hope you learned something new today and appreciate everyone playing this week! See you next time!!!
