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Rookery
Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, a legendary bird in Roost
  • Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, profile

    Profile

  • Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, in flight

    In flight

Tropical Birds

Guianan Cock-of-the-rock

Rupicola rupicola

  • legendary
  • 1071 km/h
  • Least Concern

Males bounce and spread wings at leks to impress females. Tangerine orange, jet-black wings, and extremely pleased about it.

Population
Not numerically quantified; BirdLife/IUCN describe it as uncommon and patchily distributed with a suspected slow decline (population reduction estimated 1-19%, best estimate <5%, over three generations) driven by ~3.2% forest-cover loss within range over that period
Habitat
Tropical/subtropical moist lowland and montane forest of the Guianan Shield, strongly tied to rocky outcrops, boulder fields, and cliff faces/caves used for nesting; elevation range 0-2,000 m
Fun fact
Male Guianan Cock-of-the-rocks gather at communal display grounds called leks (sometimes 40+ males) where they compete in ritualized dances and bill-snapping contests beneath a distinctive half-moon crest that all but conceals their bill; each male maintains his own cleared ~1-meter court on the forest floor, and females choose mates by flying down and pecking the winning male on the rump.
Range
Northeastern South America across the Guianan Shield: French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, southern Venezuela, southeastern Colombia, and northern Amazonian Brazil (Extent of Occurrence ~2,320,000 km²)
Diet
Primarily frugivorous (documented eating fruit/seeds from 65-111+ plant species depending on study site, favoring canopy trees and lianas, with a preference for black- or red-colored fruit); occasionally takes insects, small snakes, lizards, and frogs
Size
0.3 m

More Tropical Birds

The next 12 of the 39 in the collection, after this one.