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are grouped in the cotinga family
but this is disputed and sometimes they are put in their own family
of Rupicolidae in the order of Passeriformes. There exist only two species in the whole world and both occur
in South America. The male Guiana Cock-of-the-Rock is bright orange
(yellowish)
and as the name suggests is found only in the
Guianas whereas the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock is
encountered in the Andean cloudforest areas from Venezuela to Bolivia. |
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This male Andean Cock-of-the-Rock is the
bright-red specie found on the western slope of the Andes. |
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Cock of
the Rocks live along rivers in the cloudforests on both sides
of the Andes between 1000m to 2000m and feed on fruits,
insects and small rodents. In Ecuador exist two 2 races of the Andean cock-of-the-rock,
Rupicola peruviana sanguinolenta
on the
western slopes of the Andes, which is shown here and
Rupicola peruviana aequatorialis
on
the eastern slopes. The males of the
western race are blood-red whereas the eastern ones have a
more darker orange color which is not so intense. Both
reach a height of around 25 cm and have disk like
crests, which covers the bill. Females of both species are somehow smaller and less brightly
colored, appearing more brownish. |
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As do some other species of
cotingas, male cock-of-the-rocks
(up to a dozen) gather in leks, small areas on or off the
ground in the forests, which are located close to nesting sites
of the females. There they wait patiently for females to
visit. If one does, the males start a ritual dance which
includes bowing, strutting, jumping, snapping bills, flapping
wings and noisy calling, sounding similar to squealing pigs.
Finding one of those leks gives observers the best
opportunity to see those birds from close range. Otherwise
the birds are mostly solitary and shy. |
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Males
are polygynous and mate with more females. They display
in leks where females chooses the partner for copulation. Females build their nests with mud and plant material
on steep rock faces above rivers and
hence their common name. They lay
two eggs in it and the chicks are taken care exclusively by
the females. The status of the gallo de peñas,
their Spanish name is fairly secure
in Ecuador because their nests are fairly inaccessible and their
habitat are steep river gorges, where little cutting of trees
occur. |
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Male cock-of-the-rocks
gather in leks
for mating purposes.
In Ecuador the best known leks are located in the
Mindo area of the Pichincha Forest Reserve, 2 hours
northwest of Quito. On the eastern slope, the area around the
San Rafael Waterfall gives good opportunties to see the eastern
specie. |
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ECUADORIAN SPECIES : |
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Name |
Scientific |
Location |
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Cock-of-the-Rock |
Rupicola peruviana
sanguinolenta |
Coast (cloudforest) 600m - 2500m |
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Rupicola peruviana aequatorialis |
Amazon (cloudforest) 900m - 2100m |
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Birding Vocabulary |
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Lek: area where male birds of a species gather to display to
females for mating purposes. |
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Polygyny: is a breeding system where one male mates with
two or more female birds. That is often associated with birds
using leks. |
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