Manakin

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Manakins
Juvenile White-collared Manakin
Juvenile White-collared Manakin
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Suborder: Tyranni
Family: Pipridae
Rafinesque, 1815
Genera

Many, see text

The manakins are a family, Pipridae, of some sixty small passerine bird species of the American tropics.

Contents

[edit] Description

They range in size from 7 to 15 cm and in weight from 8 to 30 g. They are compact stubby birds with short tails, broad and rounded wings, and big heads. The bill is short and has a wide gape. Females and first-year males have dull green plumage; most species are sexually dichromatic in their plumage,[1] the males being mostly black with striking colours in patches,[citation needed] and in some species having long, decorative tail or crown feathers or erectile throat feathers. In some species, males from two to four years old have a distinctive subadult plumage.[1]

The syrinx (biology) or "voicebox" is distinctive in manakins, setting them apart from the related families Cotingidae and Tyrannidae. Furthermore, it so variable within the group that genera and even species can be identified by the syrinx alone, unlike birds of most oscine families. The sounds made are whistles, trills, and buzzes.[1]

[edit] Range, habitat, and feeding

Manakins occur from southern Mexico to northern [Argentina]], Paraguay, and southern Brazil, and on Trinidad and Tobago as well. They are highly arboreal and are almost exclusively forest and woodland birds. Most species live in humid tropical lowlands, with a few in dry forests, river forests,[1] and the subtropical Andes[citation needed]. Some highland species have altitudinal migrations. Manakins feed in the understory on small fruit (but often remarkably large for the size of the bird[citation needed]) including berries, and to a lesser degree, insects. Since they take fruit in flight as other species "hawk" for insects, they are believed to have evolved from insect-eating birds. Females have big territories from which they do not necessarily exclude other birds of their species, instead feeding somewhat socially. Males spend much of their time together at courtship sites, as described below. Manakins sometimes join mixed feeding flocks.[1]

[edit] Reproduction

Many manakin species have spectacular lekking courtship rituals, which are especially elaborate in the genera Pipra and Chiroxiphia. The members of the genera Machaeropterus and Manacus have heavily modified wing feathers, which they use to make buzzing and snapping sounds. Building of the nest (an open cup, generally low in vegetation), incubation for 18 to 21 days, and care of the young for 13 to 15 days are undertaken by the female alone, since most manakins do not form stable pairs. (The Helmeted Manakin does form pairs, but the male's contribution is limited to defending the territory.) The normal clutch is two eggs, which are buff or dull white marked with brown.[1]

Lekking polygyny seems to have been a characteristic of the family's original ancestor, and the associated sexual selection led to an adaptive radiation in which relationships can be traced by similarities in displays. An evolutionary explanation connecting lekking to fruit-eating has been proposed.[1]

[edit] Species list

The members of the genus Schiffornis were previously placed in this family, but are now placed in Tityridae.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Prum, Richard O.; Snow, David W. (2003). "Manakins", in Perrins, Christopher: The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Firefly Books, 434–437. ISBN 1-55297-777-3. 
  2. ^ a b Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, T. S. Schulenberg, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, & K. J. Zimmer. 2007. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union. Accessed 12 December 2007.

[edit] External links

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