Todus †Palaeotodus The todies are a family, Todidae, of tiny Caribbean birds in the order Coraciiformes, which also includes the kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers.

They have been linked to a large number of potential relatives since then, including nightjars, trogons, barbets, jacamars, puffbirds, kingfishers, motmots and even some passerine species such as broadbills, cotingas and flowerpeckers.

[4][5][6] The number of species in each family is taken from the list maintained by Frank Gill, Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).

These are small, near passerine species of forests of the Greater Antilles: Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba, with adjacent islands, have one species each, and Hispaniola has two: the broad-billed tody (Todus subulatus) in the lowlands (including Gonâve Island), and the narrow-billed tody (Todus angustirostris) in the highlands.

They have green heads, backs and wings, red throats (absent in immature Puerto Rican, broad-billed, and narrow-billed todies)[8] with a white and blue-grey stripe on each side, and yellow undertail coverts; the colour of the rest of the undersides is pale and varies according to species.

Todies typically sit on a low, small branch, singly or in pairs, keeping still or stepping or hopping sideways.

[2] Like most of the Coraciiformes, todies nest in tunnels, which they dig with their beaks and feet in steep banks[9] or rotten tree trunks.