Andean Cock-of-the-rock - BirdForum Opus

Adult male
Photo © by juninho
Manu National Park, Peru, 10/05

Rupicola peruvianus

Identification

30·5–32 cm (12-12½ in). A medium-sized passerine

• Scarlet or orange plumage
• Black wings and tail
• Bushy fan-shaped crest on the forehead lends an unusual shape to the head, and makes identification even easier (although the coloration is usually enough).

The female is browner and darker with a shorter crest.

Variations

Female, subspecies aequatorialis
Photo © by Stanley Jones
Aguas Verdes, San Martín, Peru, January 2017

Color of the non-black plumage and of eyes differ among subspecies.

Distribution

South America: found in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia

Taxonomy

A member of the cotinga family and one of the two species in the genus Rupicola

Subspecies

Photo © by jeffworman
Refugio Paz de las Aves, near Mindo, Ecuador, January 2017

Four subspecies are recognized,^[1]

• R.p. sanguinolentus:

• Andes of western Colombia and north-western Ecuador

• R.p. aequatorialis:

• Andes of eastern Colombia to western Venezuela, eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru

• R.p. peruvianus:

• Andes of central Peru (San Martín to Junín)

• R.p. saturatus;

• Andes of south-eastern Peru (Cusco and Puno) and western Bolivia

Rupicola peruvianus has in the past been called Rupicola peruviana.

Habitat

Gorges and ravines in cloud forest on both slopes of the Andes. Roadside, disturbed secondary rain forest 1,219 m

Behaviour

Diet

The diet consists of a variety of fruits, large insects and small invertebrates.

Breeding

Males are polygamous and display in communal leks. The females build shallow nests with mud and plant material on the walls of rocks, hence the common name.

In Culture

This is the national bird of Peru.

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

• 

  Adult female
  Photo © by Peter R. Bono
  Along Manu Road, at lek just above Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge, (approx. 1450m), Peru, August 2002

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 March 2017)
3. BF Member observations
4. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Andean Cock-of-the-rock. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 30 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Andean_Cock-of-the-rock

External Links

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