Red-ruffed fruitcrow

Red-ruffed fruitcrow
Red-ruffed fruitcrow at Intervales State Park, São Paulo state, Brazil
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Cotingidae
Genus:	Pyroderus G.R. Gray, 1840
Species:	P. scutatus
Binomial name
Pyroderus scutatus (Shaw, 1792)
Synonyms
Pyroderus granadensis

The red-ruffed fruitcrow (Pyroderus scutatus) is a species of bird in the monotypic genus Pyroderus, in the Cotinga family. It is among the largest Passerines in South America, though it is surpassed by another cotinga, the Amazonian umbrellabird.

Description

Pyroderus scutatus illustration 1838

It has a relatively heavy pale bluish bill, and the plumage is primarily black, but with a bright orange-crimson patch on the throat (thereby superficially resembling the smaller male purple-throated fruitcrow). Some subspecies have brown underparts. Males gather in loose leks where they call to attract the smaller, but otherwise similar, females.

Distribution and habitat

Its distribution is highly disjunct, with population associated with the Tepuis in Venezuela and Guyana, the east Andean slopes in Peru, Andean slopes in north-western Ecuador, Colombia and western Venezuela, the Venezuelan Coastal Range and the Atlantic Forest in south-eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and far north-eastern Argentina. It is found in humid forest, especially in highlands.

Status and conservation

While generally a low-density species, it remains widespread and is locally not rare. Consequently, it is rated as being of Least Concern by BirdLife International and the IUCN.

References