Alternative name: Calfbird
- Perissocephalus tricolor
Identification
34·5–35·5 cm (13½-14 in).
- Unmistakable
- Blue-gray in bare parts of head
- Black tail
- Olive-brown wings
- Mostly rufous in rest of plumage
- Orangy-rufous undertail-coverts
- The lekking male has the ability to raise these into long globular shapes, affectionately called 'tail lights'
- Dark, large bill
Sexes alike.
Distribution
South America: found in East Colombia to southern Venezuela, the Guianas and north-eatern Amazonian Brazil.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[4].
Habitat
Humid forest on non-swampy ground. Usually below 600m but p to 1400m in Venezuela.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds mainly on fruits but takes also large insects.
Breeding
Breeding season November to March in Suriname, July to October in French Guiana. The nest is a light platform with twigs, usually 3 to 6 m high in a understorey tree. Lays one egg.
Resident species.
Courtship
Maybe the strangest display in this family. Males display at a lek, standing upright with their bald heads gleaming and uttering their strange, cow-like sound. A dominant male sits on a key perch, together with his allies. Other males also associate, trying to get better places in the lek.
The lek is visited by groups of females. Their visit leads often to chaos with aggression between the females, males mimicring females to get better places in the leks and aggression between males. Usually, the dominant male seems to do all the matings.2
The fact that both sexes exhibit aggression at the lek may explain why both sexes are plumaged alike, contrary to most other lekking species.
Vocalisation
A cow-like mooing by the males. Females utter a rasping "waaaaaaa" as an alarm.
References
- Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2004. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 9: Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334696
- Morton & Stutchbury (2001): Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Birds. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-675556-6
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Cornell Lab Neotropical Birds
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Capuchinbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Capuchinbird
