Spangled Cotinga
Cotinga cayana
Compact, medium-sized bird of rainforest canopy; often seen at fruiting trees or perched atop bare snags. Male plumage is stunning in good light but can appear blackish otherwise. Feeds on fruit and often commutes long distances between food sources. In western Amazonia, compare to Plum-throated Cotinga; note male Spangled’s more extensive black markings, including tail. Females recognizable by small, rounded head and scalloped plumage; both sexes have dark (not yellow) eyes.
Identification
The species is sexually dimorphic with the male being a bright turquoise-blue with a large deep wine-red throat and black to the wings, tail and back. The female is overall dull brownish-gray with darker wings and faint mottling below.
Taxonomy
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the spangled cotinga in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Cayenne in French Guiana. He used the French name Le cotinga de Cayenne and the Latin Cotinga Cayanensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the spangled cotinga. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Ampelis cayana and cited Brisson's work. This species is now placed in the genus Cotinga that was introduced by Brisson in 1760. The spangled cotinga is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Cotinga cayana
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cotingidae
- Genus
- Cotinga
Range and habitat
The spangled cotinga is found throughout the Amazon Basin. It is not considered to be threatened because of its wide distribution.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
As other members of the genus Cotinga, this species is frugivorous, but it has also been recorded feeding on insects. They are found in the upper canopy of the rainforest. Males often perch in dead trees high above the forest floor. The spangled cotinga and other members of the genus Cotinga do not sing or vocalise although they have been heard making a "whistling" sound from the wings during flight.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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