Family of South American birds
The manakins are a family, Pipridae, of small suboscine passerine birds. The group contains 55 species distributed through the American tropics. The name is from Middle Dutch "mannekijn" "little man" (also the source of the different bird name "mannikin").
Description.
Manakins range in size from and in weight from . Species in the genus "Tyranneutes" are the smallest manakins, those in the genus "Antilophia" are believed to be the largest (since the genus "Schiffornis" are no longer considered manakins). They are compact stubby birds with short tails, broad and rounded wings, and big heads. The bill is short and has a wide gap. Females and first-year males have dull green plumage; most species are sexually dichromatic in their plumage, the males being mostly black with striking colours in patches, and in some species having long, decorative tail or crown feathers or erectile throat feathers. In some species, males from two to four years old have a distinctive subadult plumage.
The syrinx or "voicebox" is distinctive in manakins, setting them apart from the related families Cotingidae and Tyrannidae. Furthermore, it is so acutely variable within the group that genera and even species may be identified by the syrinx alone, unlike birds of most oscine families. The sounds made are whistles, trills, and buzzes.
Distribution and habitat.
Manakins occur from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, Paraguay, and southern Brazil, and on Trinidad and Tobago as well. They are highly arboreal and are almost exclusively forest and woodland birds. Most species live in humid tropical lowlands, with a few in dry forests, river forests, and the subtropical Andes. Some highland species have altitudinal migrations.
Behaviour and ecology.
Feeding.
Manakins feed in the understory on small fruit (but often remarkably large for the size of the bird) including berries, and to a lesser degree, insects. Since they take fruit in flight as other species "hawk" for insects, they are believed to have evolved from insect-eating birds. Females have big territories from which they do not necessarily exclude other birds of their species, instead feeding somewhat socially. Males spend much of their time together at courtship sites. Manakins sometimes join mixed feeding flocks.
Reproduction.
Many manakin species have spectacular lekking courtship rituals, which are especially elaborate in the genera "Pipra" and "Chiroxiphia". The rituals are characterized by a unique, species-specific pattern of vocalizations and movements such as jumping, bowing, wing vibration, wing snapping, and acrobatic flight. The members of the genera "Machaeropterus" and "Manacus" have heavily modified wing feathers, which they use to make buzzing and snapping sounds. Members of "Manacus" and "Ceratopipra" have superfast wing movements. The ability to produce these wing movements is supported by specialized peripheral androgen receptors in the muscular tissue.
Building of the nest (an open cup, generally low in vegetation), the incubation for 18 to 21 days, and care of the young for 13 to 15 days are undertaken by the female alone, since most manakins do not form stable pairs. (The helmeted manakin does form pairs, but the male's contribution is limited to defending the territory.) The normal clutch is two eggs, which are buff or dull white, marked with brown.
Lekking polygyny seems to have been a characteristic of the family's original ancestor, and the associated sexual selection led to an adaptive radiation in which relationships may be traced by similarities in displays. Manakin sexual displays within these leks among the ancestral subfamily Neopelminae are the most simple, while displays among the more evolutionarily recent subfamily Piprinae are the most complex. An evolutionary explanation connecting lekking to fruit-eating has been proposed.
Species list.
The family Pipridae was introduced (as Pipraria) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. The members of the genus "Schiffornis" were previously placed in this family, but are now placed in Tityridae.
References.
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