Painted Manakin

Machaeropterus eckelberryi

This recently described species is known only from a small area of the eastern Andes in northern Peru. Male has a bright red cap and candy-cane striped underparts. Female is very dull with olive upperparts and pale yellow lower underparts; breast is olive with faint white streaks. Very similar to Striolated Manakin, but male has yellow (not red) on the sides of the breast, and red crown does not extend to nape. Females are almost identical. Inhabits lower levels of foothill cloud forest. Call is an inflected squeak given at regular intervals.

Identification

The painted manakin (Machaeropterus eckelberryi) is a small South American species of passerine bird in the manakin family Pipridae. It was first described in 2017 from specimens collected in north west Peru. Painted manakin were initially seen in surveys of the Cordillera Azul in 1996, other research reveals the existence of female painted manakin in 1977.

Taxonomy

The painted manakin was described by the American ornithologist Daniel Lane and colleagues in 2017 and given the binomial name Machaeropterus eckelberryi. The specific epithet was chosen to commemorate the American bird artist Donald R. Eckelberry (1921-2000). The species is placed in the genus Machaeropterus that was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854.<p>The painted manakin was described as a new species based solely on the differences in vocalization. It is morphologically identical to one of the subspecies of the striolated manakin (M. striolatus aureopectus). No genetic evidence has been published. The species is found on the eastern flanks of the Cordillera Escalera and Cordillera Azul near the valley of the Rio Mayo in the San Martín and Loreto Regions of Peru.<p>The painted manakin has been recognised as a valid species by the South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society and by Frank Gill and David Donsker who maintain a list of bird species on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee.

Scientific name
Machaeropterus eckelberryi
Authority
Lane, Kratter & O'Neill, 2017
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Pipridae
Genus
Machaeropterus

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Behavior

Migration pattern: Resident species.

Conservation

Population trend: stable.

Population trend
stable

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

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