Handsome fruiteater facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Handsome fruiteater |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Illustration of male | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Pipreola
|
| Species: |
formosa
|
 |
|
The handsome fruiteater (Pipreola formosa) is a beautiful bird that belongs to a group of birds called Cotingidae. It is a special bird because it is found only in the coastal mountains of northern Venezuela. There are two groups of these birds living in the northern mountains, separated by about 400 km (250 mi). This bird's natural home is in warm, wet montane forests found in tropical and subtropical areas.
Contents
What Does the Handsome Fruiteater Look Like?
The male handsome fruiteater is quite striking! It has a black head and throat, and its upper body is green. The tips of its wing feathers (called tertial feathers) are pale. It has a bright orange upper chest and a yellow belly.
The female looks a bit different. She doesn't have the black head and throat. Her upper body is also green, and she has white tips on her wing feathers, just like the male. Her throat is green, with a small patch of yellow below it. The rest of her belly and chest have a pattern of green and yellow bars or scales.
It's easy to spot the male handsome fruiteater because no other fruiteater in its area has such a bright orange chest. Telling the female apart can be a bit trickier, but you can tell her from the golden-breasted fruiteater (P. aureopectus) because the female golden-breasted fruiteater doesn't have that yellow patch on her chest and has stripes instead of bars on her belly.
Where Do Handsome Fruiteaters Live?
The handsome fruiteater lives only in the mountains of northern Venezuela. They prefer humid (wet) forests at lower and medium heights, usually between about 800 and 2,200 m (2,600 and 7,200 ft) above sea level. As mentioned earlier, they live in two separate areas, not one continuous region.
What Do Handsome Fruiteaters Eat?
The main food for the handsome fruiteater is small fruits. They usually eat these fruits while sitting on a branch. Sometimes, they might quickly hover in the air to grab a fruit. You might also see them feeding for a short time with other types of birds in mixed-species flocks. We don't know much about how they raise their young, but they have been seen changing their feathers in June and July, which means they likely bred before then.
Is the Handsome Fruiteater in Danger?
This bird lives only in Venezuela and has a fairly small area where it can be found. However, it is reported to be quite common within that area. We don't know the exact number of handsome fruiteaters, but their population seems to be stable. Because of this, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has decided that the bird is a "least-concern species." This means they are not currently worried about it becoming endangered.
See also
In Spanish: Frutero hermoso para niños
