Swallow-tailed Cotinga - BirdForum Opus

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Includes Palkachupa Cotinga

Phibalura flavirostris

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

Identification

Nominate subspecies has blood red iris and pink legs.

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

Variation

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

Distribution

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

Taxonomy

Two subspecies are recognized, flavirostris and boliviana¹.

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, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
2. Birdforum thread discussing the taxonomy of Swallow-tailed Cotinga

External Links

Search for photos of Swallow-tailed Cotinga in the gallery