The blue manakin or swallow-tailed manakin (''Chiroxiphia caudata'') is a small species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Pipridae The manakins are a family, Pipridae, of small suboscine passerine birds. The group contains some 54 species distributed through the American tropics. The name is from Middle Dutch ''mannekijn'' "little man" (also the source of the different bird ...

. It is found mainly in the

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...

of south-eastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, eastern

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and far north-eastern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Its typical habitat is wet lowland or montane forest and heavily degraded former forest. Males have a bright blue body, black head wings and tail and a red crown. Females and juveniles are olive-green. At breeding time, males are involved in lekking behaviour when they sing and dance to impress females. This is a common species with a wide range, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Distribution and habitat

This bird is found in north-eastern

, southern and south-eastern

, and

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

, subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

, and heavily degraded former forest. It is generally common in the appropriate habitats within its range. One to five males live within an area of 100 meters^2, consisting of one alpha male, one beta male, and a few gamma males. Each area has four to six display perches which are horizontal vines, branches, or lianas one meter off the ground. The main display arena is cleaned by the alpha and beta males by removing moss, leaves, or twigs from the perch, making it appear whiter.

Description

At a length of around and a weight of around , this small sparrow-sized bird may be the largest species within the diminutive

manakin The manakins are a Family (biology), family, Pipridae, of small Tyranni, suboscine passerine birds. The group contains some 54 species distributed through the American tropics. The name is from Middle Dutch ''mannekijn'' "little man" (also the so ...

family. Formerly, the name "swallow-tailed manakin" was used widely, but as it is misleading (the tail is unlike that of any

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

), this name has largely been abandoned for "superior blue manakin". As suggested by this

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

, the male is - by far - the

with most blue to the

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

. The entire body is bright blue, while the wings, tail and head, except for the red cap, are black. The far duller female is greenish-brown overall. Both sexes have elongated central

rectrices Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...

. Juvenile males resemble the adult female, but gradually develop first the red crown, then the black face-sides, and finally the remaining plumage of the adult male. The males form

leks A lek is an aggregation of male animals gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. A lek can also indicate an avail ...

, typically consisting of a single adult and two sub-adult males, where they sing and "dance" to attract females. This was shown in the BBC's ''

The Life of Birds ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' documentary series. Due to the pronounced hypergamous nature of its females, up to 90% of male blue manakins never mate.

Status

This bird has a very wide range, is common and is presumed to have a large total population. The population trend is thought to be stable and the

has rated the bird's conservation status as being of "

References

External links

Photos and text
- arthurgrosset.com

- faunaparaguay.com * {{Taxonbar, from=Q882444 blue manakin Birds of the Atlantic Forest blue manakin Articles containing video clips Taxonomy articles created by Polbot