White-ruffed Manakin

White-ruffed Manakin
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pipridae
Genus:	Corapipo
Species:	C. altera
Binomial name
Corapipo altera Hellmayr, 1906

The White-ruffed Manakin, Corapipo altera, is a tiny passerine bird in the manakin family. It is a resident breeder in the tropical New World from eastern Honduras to northwestern Venezuela.

It is common in the lowlands and foothills breeding mainly between 400–600 m on the Caribbean slope and up to 1500 m on the Pacific slopes. It descends to the lowlands in the wet season.

This is a species of wet forest, adjacent clearings and tall second growth. The female lays two brown-speckled white eggs in a shallow cup nest 5–7 m high in a horizontal tree fork. Nest-building, incubation for 18–21 days, and care of the young are undertaken by the female alone, since manakins do not form stable pairs.

The White-ruffed Manakin is, like its relatives, a compact short-tailed bird with a heavy hooked bill, dark legs and striking male plumage. It is typically 10 cm long and weighs 12.5 g.

The adult male is mostly glossy blue-black with a white erectile ruff on the throat and sides of the neck. His wings are modified, with a very short outer primary. The male’s call is a thin s-e-e-e-e-e or, in display, a twangy shree-up. The wings are used to make a dull snap like a breaking twig, as with other manakins.

The female and young males are olive-green with a grey throat.

Like other manakins, this species has a fascinating breeding display at a communal lek. 3-4 males one at a time descend in a slow fluttering flight on to a mossy fallen log with tail raised and ruff spread, and then give a little jump.

The White-collared Manakin feeds low in the trees on fruit and some insects, both plucked from the foliage in flight. It forms loose groups in its breeding areas, but is more solitary in the lowlands, although it may join tanagers and others in mixed-species feeding flocks.

References

• Hilty, Birds of Venezuela, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
• Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-8014-9600-4