The bird is probably best known for the male's unusual courting method whereby he shuffles rapidly backwards across a branch, akin to a speedy moonwalk.
Ceratopipra mentalis mentalis (Sclater, PL, 1857) – southeast Mexico to east Costa Rica
Ceratopipra mentalis ignifera (Bangs, 1901) – west Costa Rica and west Panama
Ceratopipra mentalis minor (Hartert, 1898) – east Panama, west Colombia and northwest Ecuador
Description
The red-capped manakin is a small passerine, measuring 4 in (10 cm) in length[8][nb 1] and weighing 16 g (0.56 oz). The male is velvety black apart from a bright red head and nape, bright yellow thighs, and a pale yellow chin and wing linings.[8] The female is olive green above, with paler, more yellow-green underparts. Both sexes have dull brown legs. The male's irides are white, while those of the female and young are brown.[7]
While the adult male is distinctive, the female and youngsters can be confused with several similar species. The male golden-collared manakin is larger, and has orange (rather than brown) legs, while the female velvety manakin is a brighter green (rather than olive).[7]
Habitat and range
Found primarily in humid forest and second growth woodland, the red-capped manakin typically occurs below 400–500 m (1,300–1,600 ft) above sea level, though it sometimes ranges as high as 900 m (3,000 ft).[7] Most are resident, but some individuals are known to migrate to take advantage of changing food resources: the number of red-capped manakins caught in mist nets at La Selva Biological Reserve, in eastern Costa Rica, tripled in January and February, when a favored fruit ripened, for example, while the number caught at a nearby higher elevation site (where the fruits were not found) dropped to zero.[10]
Behavior
Food and feeding
The red-capped manakin is a frugivore, feeding almost exclusively on fruits. These pass very quickly through the bird's digestive system, typically taking less than 18 minutes to process.[11] The manakins ability to process large quantities of fruit have evolved to be fast due to experiencing certain seasons where there is not an abundant amount of fruits. Therefore, they had to consume large volumes of food to get the nutrients they need.[12] Seeds from a variety of plants are consumed; one study in Costa Rica found evidence of 70 species, including those from the genera Clidemia, Hampea, Henriettea, Leandra, Miconia, Ossaea, Pinzona and Psychotria, in the fecal droppings of red-capped manakins.[13]
Notes
^By convention, length is measured from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail on a dead bird (or skin) laid on its back.[9]
^Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 278.
^Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 250. ISBN978-1-4081-2501-4.
^Ohlson, J.I.; Fjeldså, J.; Ericson, P.G.P. (2013). "Molecular phylogeny of the manakins (Aves: Passeriformes: Pipridae), with a new classification and the description of a new genus". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 69 (3): 796–804. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.06.024. PMID23831559.
^ abStiles, F. Gary; Skutch, Alexander F (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press. pp. 299–300. ISBN0-8014-9600-4.
^Cramp, Stanley, ed. (1977). Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: Birds of the Western Palearctic, Volume 1, Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN0-19-857358-8.
^Hilty, Steven L.; Wolf, Mimi Hoppe (2005). Birds of Tropical America: A Watcher's Introduction to Behavior, Breeding, and Diversity. University of Texas Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN0-292-70673-1.
^Loiselle, Bette A.; Blendinger, Pedro G.; Blake, John G.; Ryder, Thomas B. (2007). "Ecological Redundancy in Seed Dispersal Systems: A Comparison Between Manakins (Aves Pipridae) in Two Tropical Forests". In Dennis, Andrew J; Schupp, Eugene W; Green, Ronda J.; Westcott, David A (eds.). Seed dispersal: theory and its application in a changing world. Wallingford, UK: CABI. p. 184. ISBN978-1-84593-165-0.
Further reading
Skutch, Alexander F. (1969). "Yellow-thighed manakin"(PDF). Life Histories of Central American Birds III: Families Cotingidae, Pipridae, Formicariidae, Furnariidae, Dendrocolaptidae, and Picidae. Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 35. Berkeley, California: Cooper Ornithological Society. pp. 110–117.