Guianan Cock-of-the-rock

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Guianan Cock-of-the-rock

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cotingidae
Genus: Rupicola
Species: R. rupicola
Binomial name
Rupicola rupicola
(Linnaeus, 1766)

The Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, Rupicola rupicola, is a stout-bodied passerine with an extraordinary half-moon crest, an orange-tipped black tail, black, orange and white wings, and silky-orange filaments of the inner remiges. Additionally, this species also has an orange bill, legs and skin. The less conspicious female is dark brownish-grey overall and possesses a yellow-tipped black bill and a smaller crest. It has a total length of approximately 30 centimeters (12 in) and weighs 200-220 grams (7-7½ oz).

The Guianan Cock-of-the-rock is distributed in the mountainous regions of Guyana, eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana and northern Amazonian Brazil. The preferred habitat is humid forest near rocky outcrops. The diet consists mainly of fruits.

The smaller of the two cock-of-the-rocks, the male is polygamous and displays in communal leks. The female lays 1-2 eggs in the nest of mud and plant material, which is attached by saliva to a vertical rock. The male does not participate in the building of the nest or the incubation of the eggs.

Fairly common locally in its large range, the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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