Swallow-tailed Cotinga - BirdForum Opus

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Photo © by Francisco Paludo
Bocaiúva do Sul, Paraná, Brazil, July 2018

Includes Palkachupa Cotinga

Phibalura flavirostris

Identification

21–23·5 cm (8¼-9¼ in)

• Nominate subspecies has blood red iris and pink legs.

Variation

Subspecies boliviana has mustard yellow eyes and orange-yellow legs.

Distribution

South-eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and Argentina, and western Bolivia.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Female
Photo © by Francisco Paludo
Bocaiúva do Sul, PR, Brazil, July 2018

Two subspecies are recognized¹:

• P. f. boliviana:

• Foothills of western Bolivia (La Paz)

• P. f. flavirostris :

• East Brazil (Goiás) to eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina

The subspecies boliviana (living in Bolivia) is separated from the nominate subspecies by about 2500 km. A paper from 2004 describes the first systematic observations of this subspecies since its rediscovery in 2000. This subspecies has been proposed for status as a full species Phibalura boliviana (Palkachupa Cotinga)².

Habitat

Forests.

Behaviour

The nominate form migrates seasonally between lower and higher elevation areas.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2018)
3. Birdforum thread discussing the taxonomy of Swallow-tailed Cotinga

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Swallow-tailed Cotinga. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Swallow-tailed_Cotinga

External Links

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