Red-capped Manakin

Red-capped Manakin
Red-capped Manakin
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pipridae
Genus: Pipra
Species: P. mentalis
Binomial name
Pipra mentalis
Sclater, 1857

The Red-capped Manakin (Pipra mentalis) is a species of bird in the Pipridae family. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

The bird is probably best known for the male's unusual courting method whereby it shuffles rapidly backwards across a branch, akin to a speedy moonwalk.

Contents

Taxonomy

The Red-capped Manakin is one of eight or nine species in the genus Pipra.[2] (The placement of the White-crowned Manakin is disputed among taxonomists, with some including it in Pipra and others placing it in its own genus, Dixiphia.)[3] It is closely related to, and in eastern Panama sometimes hybridizes with, the Golden-headed Manakin.[4] The genus name Pipra comes from the scientific name given by Linnaeus to the White-crowned Manakin in 1758 — Parus pipra.[5]

Description

PipraMentalisWolf.jpg

The Red-capped Manakin is a small passerine, measuring 4 in (10 cm) in length[6][nb 1] and weighing 16 g (0.56 oz). The male is velvety black apart from a bright red head and nape, bright yellow thighs, and a pale yellow chin and wing linings.[6] The female is olive green above, with paler, more yellow-green underparts. Both sexes have dull brown legs. The male's irides are white, while those of the female and young are brown.[4]

While the adult male is distinctive, the female and youngsters can be confused with several similar species. The female Golden-collared Manakin is larger, and has orange (rather than brown) legs, while the female Blue-crowned Manakin is a brighter green (rather than olive).[4]

Habitat and range

Found primarily in humid forest and second growth woodland, the Red-capped Manakin typically occurs below 400–500 m (1,300–1,600 ft) above sea level, though it sometimes ranges as high as 900 m (3,000 ft).[4] Most are resident, but some individuals are known to migrate to take advantage of changing food resources: the number of Red-capped Manakins caught in mist nets at La Selva Biological Reserve, in eastern Costa Rica, tripled in January and February, when a favored fruit ripened, for example, while the number caught at a nearby higher elevation site (where the fruits were not found) dropped to zero.[8]

Behavior

Food and feeding

The Red-capped Manakin is a frugivore, feeding almost exclusively on fruits. These pass very quickly through the bird's digestive system, typically taking less than 18 minutes to process.[9]

Note

  1. ^ By convention, length is measured from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail on a dead bird (or skin) laid on its back.[7]

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2009). Pipra mentalis. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 12 October 2010.
  2. ^ "Pipra". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=558069. Retrieved 24 October 2010. 
  3. ^ Ridgely, Robert S.; Tudor, Guy (2009). Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America: The Passerines. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. p. 692. ISBN 978-0-292-71979-8. 
  4. ^ a b c d Hilty, Steven (1986). A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 430. ISBN 0-691-08372-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=kHa6tJNKGDAC&pg=PA430&dq=pipra+mentalis&hl=en&ei=X0i1TpxRguHRAeiGrbgE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFIQ6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=pipra%20mentalis&f=false. 
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 331. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4. 
  6. ^ a b Stiles, F. Gary; Skutch, Alexander F (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press. pp. 299–300. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4. 
  7. ^ Cramp, Stanley, ed (1977). Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: Birds of the Western Palearctic, Volume 1, Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-19-857358-8. 
  8. ^ Hilty, Steven L.; Wolf, Mimi Hoppe (2005). Birds of Tropical America: A Watcher's Introduction to Behavior, Breeding, and Diversity. University of Texas Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 0-292-70673-1. 
  9. ^ Bucher, Theresa L.; Worthington, Andrea (May–June 1982). "Nocturnal Hypothermia and Oxygen Consumption in Manakins". The Condor 84 (3): 327–331. http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v084n03/p0327-p0331.pdf. 

External links


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