White-bearded Manakin (Manacus manacus)

[order] PASSERIFORMES | [family] Pipridae | [latin] Manacus manacus | [UK] White-bearded Manakin | [FR] Manakin moine | [DE] Sabelpipra | [ES] Matraquero de Cuello Blanco | [NL] Bonte Manakin

Subspecies

Physical charateristics

The White-bearded Manakin is a compact, brightly coloured forest bird, typically 10.7 cm long and weighing 16.5 g. The adult male has a black crown, upper back wings and tail, and the plumage is otherwise white. He has orange legs. The female and young males are olive-green and resemble female Golden-headed Manakins, but they have orange legs. The race endemic to Trinidad, M. m. trinitatis is larger than mainland birds, and the female has yellower underparts.

Listen to the sound of White-bearded Manakin

[audio:http://www.aviflevoland.nl/sounddb/W/White-bearded Manakin.mp3]

Copyright remark: Most sounds derived from xeno-canto

Range

South America : widespread

Habitat

This manakin is a fairly common bird of forests, second growth and plantations. It is found in lower levels along forest borders and secondary woodland as well as in campina and restinga woodland.

Reproduction

The female builds a shallow cup nest low in a tree; two brown-mottled white eggs are laid, and incubated entirely by the female for about 18-19 days, with a further 13-15 days to fledging. The young are fed mainly on regurgitated fruit with some insects. The male White-bearded Manakin has a fascinating breeding display at a communal lek. Each male clears a patch of forest floor to bare earth, and perches on a bare stick. The display consists of rapid leaps between sticks and the ground, accompanied by a loud wing snap, the whirring of the wings, and a chee-poo call. Groups of up to 70 birds may perform together, the largest leks being in Trinidad.

Feeding habits

They are usually found singly as they forage for fruit and the occasional insect except when the males are leking.

Conservation

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.

Migration

Sedentary throughout range.

Distribution map