Chiroxiphia is one of several genera of manakins, small song birds of South and Central America.

Chiroxiphia
Blue-backed manakin (Chiroxiphia pareola)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pipridae
Genus: Chiroxiphia
Cabanis, 1847
Type species
Pipra caudata[1]
Shaw, 1793
Species

The male plumage is a striking combination of black and bright blue. The crown is red, except in the yellow-crowned C. pareola regina. Females are comparably dull olive-greenish overall. Juveniles of both sexes resemble the adult female. As the male plumage takes several years to complete, individuals showing a level of intermediacy between full adult male and female-like juveniles are commonly seen (in particular female-plumaged birds with red, or yellow in C. pareola regina, crowns).

Manakins of the genus Chiroxiphia have an unusual mating system, based on female mate choice. In order to mate successfully, males have to form partnerships with another male. The two males co-operate in an elaborate courtship dance, and sing a joint song (called a duet) at one of many traditionally fixed mating sites; the area where mating takes place can be described as an exploded lek. In some species such as the blue manakin, these partnerships typically consist of three males. Females attend a number of these courtship sites, observing the male displays and eventually allow a male at one of the sites to mate.

The males can typically be designated alpha and beta, since there is a clear dominance relationship between them. There is only ever one alpha male, but, depending on species, there may be one or two beta males. Beta males are sometimes sub-adults - easily recognized, as their plumage retain female-like characters. Only the alpha male is ever seen to mate with the female.

As in other manakins, males play no part in the care of the young.

Another genus, Antilophia was introduced in 1850 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach to accommodate the helmeted manakin.[2][3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek antios meaning "different" with lophoeis meaning "crested".[4] Until the discovery of the Araripe manakin, the helmeted manakin was the only known member of the genus Antilophia.[5] In the taxonomic revision to create monotypic genera, all two species of Antilophia was reclassified to Chiroxiphia.[6] They are the only two species of manakin with dichromatic (two-coloured) male plumage.[7]

Species

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The genus contains the following seven species:[6]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
  Chiroxiphia galeata Helmeted manakin Brazil; also northeast Paraguay, and a border region of northeast Bolivia
  Chiroxiphia bokermanni Araripe manakin Brazil
  Chiroxiphia lanceolata Lance-tailed manakin from Costa Rica to northern Venezuela.
  Chiroxiphia linearis Long-tailed manakin Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua
  Chiroxiphia pareola Blue-backed manakin southern Colombia, eastern Venezuela, the Guyanas, northeast Brazil, the Amazon Basin in Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru; and in Tobago.
  Chiroxiphia boliviana Yungas manakin Yungas of southeastern Peru and Bolivia.
  Chiroxiphia caudata Blue manakin south-eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and far north-eastern Argentina.

References

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  1. ^ "Pipridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  2. ^ Reichenbach, Ludwig (1850). Avium Systema Naturale (in German). Dresden and Leipzig: Expedition Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte. Plate LXIII.
  3. ^ Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 254.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ de Freitas Marçal, Bráulio (2019). "Non-monogamous mating system and evidence of lekking behaviour in the helmeted manakin (Aves: Pipridae)". Journal of Natural History. 53 (39–40): 2479–2488. Bibcode:2019JNatH..53.2479M. doi:10.1080/00222933.2019.1704899. S2CID 213294370.
  6. ^ a b International Ornithologists' Union. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela (eds.). "IOC World Bird List 14.1" (xlsx). Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  7. ^ de Freitas Marçal, Bráulio; Esteves Lopes, Leonardo (2019). "Breeding biology of the Helmeted Manakin Antilophia galeata in an ecotone between the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado". Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia. 27 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1007/BF03544440.
  • Trainer, J. M., McDonald, D. B., & Learn, W. A. (2002). The development of coordinated singing in cooperatively displaying long-tailed manakins. Behavioral Ecology, 13, 65–69.