Blue-backed Manakin (Chiroxiphia pareola)

[order] PASSERIFORMES | [family] Pipridae | [latin] Chiroxiphia pareola | [UK] Blue-backed Manakin | [FR] Manakin a dos bleu | [DE] Prachtpipra | [ES] Saltarin Dorsiazul | [NL] Prachtmanakin

Like other manakins, Blue-backed Manakin is a compact, brightly coloured forest bird, typically 13 cm long and weighing 19 g. The male is mainly black with a bright blue back, and pale orange legs. The crown is typically red, but yellow in C. pareola regina from the south-west Amazon.

The female has olive-green upperparts, and somewhat paler olive underparts. Young males are olive, but show a red cap and the start of a blue back as they mature.

South America : Amazonia, East Brazil

This manakin is a fairly common bird of dry and moist deciduous forests, but not rainforest.

The male Blue-backed Manakin has a fascinating breeding display, unusual in that it is a cooperative display rather than competitive. Two males perch next to each other on a bare stick and jump up and down alternately, giving a buzzing call. When a female approaches, the perched bird moves backwards under the jumping bird, so the two perform a vertical circling movement. Groups of up to eight birds may perform together, with a different stick for each pair of displaying males. The female builds a twig nest in a tree; two brown-mottled white eggs are laid, and incubated entirely by the female for about 20 days.

Forages for fruit and insects, the latter caught by gleaning and sallying.

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Sedentary throughout range.