White-ruffed manakin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids White-ruffed manakin
Scientific classification
Genus:	Corapipo
Species:	altera

The white-ruffed manakin (Corapipo altera) is a small, colorful bird. It belongs to the manakin family. This bird lives in the tropical parts of the New World. You can find it from eastern Honduras all the way to northwestern Colombia. It likes to live in wet forests, open areas nearby, and tall, bushy places.

This plump bird is about 10 cm (4 inches) long. Male white-ruffed manakins are shiny blue-black. They have a special white "ruff" of feathers on their throat and neck that they can puff up. Females are mostly green. During breeding season, males perform amazing dances on the forest floor to attract females. This bird is quite common and lives in many places.

What Does the White-ruffed Manakin Look Like?

The white-ruffed manakin is a small, sturdy bird. It has a short tail and a wide, flat beak. Its legs are dark. Male birds have very bright feathers. They are usually 10 cm (4 inches) long and weigh about 11 g (0.4 ounces). Males are a bit smaller than females.

The adult male is mostly shiny blue-black. He has a white ruff of feathers on his throat and the sides of his neck. He can make these feathers stand up. His wings are also special, with a very short outer feather. Female birds and young birds in their first year are olive-green. They have a grayish throat. In their second year, young males start to change. They become mostly green but get a black mask and a small white ruff. They only get their full adult feathers after their third breeding season.

Where Do White-ruffed Manakins Live?

This bird is common in the hills and mid-level areas of Central America. They mostly breed between 400 and 600 m (1,300-2,000 feet) high on the Caribbean side. On the Pacific side, they can breed up to 1500 m (5,000 feet) high.

Some of these birds move to lower places during the wet season. This is when they are not breeding. The white-ruffed manakin prefers wet forests. It mostly stays in old, untouched forests. However, it sometimes goes into nearby clearings and areas with tall, new plant growth.

How Do White-ruffed Manakins Behave?

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Like other manakins, this species has a very interesting way of breeding. Male birds perform special dances at places called leks. These leks are usually made of several mossy logs that have fallen on the forest floor. The logs are close enough for the males to hear each other.

Males can display alone or work together with other males. Their dances include:

• Slow, fluttering "butterfly" flights to and from their logs.
• Flying between nearby branches.
• Landing on logs and puffing out their throat feathers while crouching and flicking their wings.

The most exciting part of the display is a "butterfly" flight. The male flies up from the log, high above the forest trees. He makes high, thin "seeuw-seeuw" calls while flying above the trees. Then, he dives very fast back to his log. After landing, he jumps and quickly turns around. During the dive and jump, males make three sounds: "flap-chee-wah."

Female birds visit many logs. They choose a male to mate with. If a female is interested, she will land on a male's log. Young males often practice these dances. Sometimes, groups of 4 or 5 young males practice together. They usually use logs that adult males are not using that season.

The female builds a shallow, cup-shaped nest. It is usually 5–7 m (16-23 feet) high in a horizontal tree branch. She lays two white eggs with brown speckles. The female takes care of everything alone. She builds the nest, sits on the eggs for 18–21 days, and raises the young. Manakins do not stay together as a pair.

In Central America, males mostly display from March to May. Young birds seem to leave the nest most often in June. This is when the weather is driest.

What Do White-ruffed Manakins Eat?

The white-ruffed manakin eats low in the trees. It mostly eats fruit. It also eats some spiders and insects. It catches these by plucking them from leaves while flying. Male birds eat a lot of fruit, more than 90% of their diet is fruit. Females eat more insects and spiders during the breeding season. A big part of their diet is small berries from plants like Melastomataceae.

Manakins usually look for food alone. Sometimes, young males form loose groups in their breeding areas. But in lower areas, they are more solitary. They might join groups of tanagers and other birds that are feeding together.

Molting and Migration

Molting is when birds shed their old feathers and grow new ones. This happens in their breeding areas. Young males start molting as early as July. Then, older males (4 years or older) molt, followed by females. This process can take a long time, sometimes until October.

In areas where birds move to different heights, they go downhill when there are heavy, long rainstorms. This can start as early as July and continue through the end of the year. Once the birds reach lower, non-breeding areas, they stay there until they fly back uphill in February. Male birds are more likely to migrate than females.

What is the White-ruffed Manakin's Status?

One study in Costa Rica found that white-ruffed manakins seem to stay connected genetically. This is true even when their habitat is broken up into smaller pieces. This suggests that manakins can easily move across areas that are not forests.

This bird lives in a very large area. It is quite common and is believed to have a big total population. The number of these birds seems to be stable. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has said that the bird's conservation status is of "least concern". This means it is not currently at risk of disappearing.