Long-tailed Manakin
Chiroxiphia linearis
Attractive, chunky little bird of tropical forest in dry and humid lowlands and foothills. Away from display areas, usually found in ones and twos perched quietly or feeding at fruiting trees and bushes from understory to canopy. Complex displays involve loud whistles and interactions between two males. Adult male is unmistakable. Female and young are greenish overall with orange legs and rather long tail. Immature males have varying degrees of adult male plumage; the sky-blue back being the last feature to appear.
Identification
Large for a manakin, the long-tailed measures about 10 cm (3.9 in) long and weighs 18 g (0.63 oz).<p>The male is mostly a rich black. This is contrasted by a bright red crown and legs. The back is bright blue. The two central tail feathers are narrow and greatly elongated. The female is olive green, paler below and on the chin and throat. Some females have a small amount of red in the crown.<p>It closely resembles the lance-tailed manakin (C. lanceolata), the blue-backed manakin (C. pareola), the swallow-tailed manakin (C. caudata), and the Yungas manakin (C. boliviana), which all have the same red crown and blue back. There is, however, no overlap in range with these four species.
Taxonomy
Genus: Chiroxiphia; Family: Pipridae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Chiroxiphia linearis
- Authority
- (Bonaparte, 1838)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pipridae
- Genus
- Chiroxiphia
Range and habitat
The long-tailed manakin is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and heavily degraded former forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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