Guianan cock-of-the-rock: Difference between revisions
Snowmanradio (talk | contribs) IUCN version 2012.1, replaced: The '''Guianan Cock-of-the-rock''', ''Rupicola rupicola'', → The '''Guianan Cock-of-the-rock''' (''Rupicola rupicola'') using AWB (8414) |
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===Food and feeding=== |
===Food and feeding=== |
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The diet consists mainly of fruits. Guianan Cock-of-the-rock are frugivorous, but data collected from droppings also suggests that this species is not exclusively consuming fruits. Small snakes and reptiles as well as insects make their way into the diet of the Cock-of-the-rock. <ref>{{cite journal|last=Erard|first=C|coauthors=M. Thery, D. Sabatier|title=The diet and of the Guianan cock-of-the-rock Rupicola rupicola. The relationships between frugivory and zoochory|journal=REV. ECOL.|year=1989|volume=44|issue=1|pages=47-74}}</ref> |
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The diet consists mainly of fruits. |
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As noted above, the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock bird is primarily frugivorous in adulthood. By selectively feeding on nearby fruit trees and then defecating or regurgitating the seeds within the leks, these birds actively influence the regeneration and succession of the forest habitat where they breed. <ref>{{cite journal|last=Thery|first=Marc|coauthors=Denis Larpin|title=Seed dispersal and vegetation dynamics at a cock-of-the-rock's lek in the tropical forest of French Guiana|journal=Journal of Tropical Ecology|year=1993|volume=9|pages=109-116}}</ref> |
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===Breeding=== |
===Breeding=== |
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According to a detailed study and observation of ‘Rubicola rubicola’ conducted by Gillard E. T., the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock breeds around the early months of the year and lays its eggs around March.<ref name=Snow>{{cite journal|last=Snow|first=D. W.|title=Notes on the biology of the Cock-of-the-rock(Rupicola rupicola)|journal=JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY|year=1971|volume=112|issue=3|pages=323-333|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/l606h22715ph874t/}}</ref> |
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In this <<lek|lekking>> species, the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock (‘Rupicola rupicola’) mating success is dependent on a variety of factors that range from the plumage exhibited by a male to the composition of the lek itself. In one study, females of the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock were not restricted in sexual selection based off sequential comparisons or threshold standards. The hen Cock-of-the-rock engaged in a “pool-comparison” tactic, meaning that females chose males of higher rank in courtship, those with more matings received from other females, and ignored lower ranking individual males. The females in the study were individually observed to aggregate towards larger more centrally concentrated leks, demonstrating active female choice. |
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While lekking, males will actively try to contrast themselves from the background and draw attention to attract the females. <ref>{{cite journal|last=Endler|first=John A.|coauthors=Marc Thery|title=Interacting Effects of Lek Placement, Display Behavior, Ambient Light, and Color Patterns in Three Neotropical Forest-Dwelling Birds|journal=The American Naturalist|date=Sep. 1996|year=1996|month=Sept.|volume=148|issue=3|pages=421-452|url=http://www.jstor,org/stable/2463298}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal|last=Trail|first=Pepper W.|coauthors=Eldridge S. Adams|title=Active mate choice at cock-of-the-rock leks: tactics of sampling and comparison|journal=BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY|year=1989|volume=25|issue=4|pages=283-292|doi=10.1007/BF00300055}}</ref> |
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During the height of mating season, males gather in leks with multiple males defending a social display arena of much greater area than that of a lone male. The females and males live separately, and only when it is time to mate, do females fly over to then observe and choose a male to mate with. When this occurs, the females simply tap the male from behind and insemination quickly follows. When females approach a lek, the males stand firmly and present themselves rigidly. It is suggested that one possible advantage to lek formation in Guianan Cock-of-the-rock is the severe selection and consequent rapid evolutionary advancement, all of which is possible due to the high expendability of males, only a few are needed to fertilize the next generation. The courtship behavior is similarly theorized to have arisen from differences in division of labor between the two sexes. Females expend their energy on building nests and rearing young, while males spend most of their time and energy of finding mates (caring for their plumage). <ref>{{cite journal|last=Gilliard|first=E. Thomas|title=On the breeding behavior of the cock-of-the-rock (Aves, Rupicola rupicola)|journal=Bulletin of the AMNH|volume=124|issue=2|url=http://hdl.handle.net/2246/1212}}</ref> |
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Often times, Guianan Cock-of-the-rock birds engage in courtship disruption practices. In a different study conducted by Pepper Trail, the interactions between adult males, females, and yearlings were observed and linked to mate choice and male dispersion patterns within leks. Adult males produced this disruptive behavior with varying intensity which depended on the situation. For lower intensity disruptions, male Guianan Cock-of-the-rock birds usually directed aggression or threats towards neighboring males, in attempts to improve or maintain breeding status and success. The males that were hassled tended to be more successful and often were disrupted with much greater frequency than males with lower mating success. Higher intensity disruptions were utilized by less successful males and directed towards females that wondered by. This behavior is suggested to have the effect of redirecting females towards the hassling male. Yearlings disrupted courtships of the more mature adults on the basis of practice for future courtships, since the yearlings do not possess any territory within the lek. Female disruption was an uncommon event which had little effect if any at all on the accessibility of a male. Young males of highly promiscuous species such as the Cock-of-the rock fail to mate in their first year, likely because of the fact that older more experienced males will enjoy the majority of matings. In this strong system of sexual selection, the successive breeding of dominant and aggressive males leads to high sex drives and the endurance of polygyny. It is a theory that the selection of these aggressive males also puts a premium, or value, on female characteristics, hence a less likely occurrence of female-elicited aggression. <ref>{{cite journal|last=Trail|first=Pepper W.|coauthors=D. L. Koutnik|title=Courtship Disruption at the Lek in the Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock|journal=Ethology|date=1986|year=1986|volume=73|pages=197-218|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.1986.tb00911.x}}</ref> <ref>{{cite journal|last=Selander|first=Robert K.|title=On Mating Systems and Sexual Selection|journal=The American Naturalist|year=1965|month=May-Jun|volume=99|issue=906|pages=129-141}}</ref> |
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Due to the fact that Guianan Cock-of-the-rock forms large leks, averaging 55 adult males, males in these display leks were especially vulnerable to attacks and predation by large snakes and other natural predators. In manipulated groups of smaller size, around 6, predation was less likely to occur, giving rise to an inverse relationship between the number and frequency of attacks and the size of leks. Thus, with a smaller frequency of attacks on the smaller group, the smaller group of Guianan Cock-of-the-rock males was less likely to spook or disperse completely as compared to a large group where a false alarm could trigger a complete flush out 90% of the time. It was found that these birds have relatively ineffective methods of anti-predation and that only social anti-predation and the infrequency of encounters with predators was keeping these lekking males alive. <ref>{{cite journal|last=Trail|first=Pepper W.|title=Predation and Antipredator Behavior at Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock Leks|journal=The Auk|year=1987|month=Jul.|volume=104|issue=3|pages=496-507}}</ref> |
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It may be noteworthy to mention that there have been no successful attempts to breed Guianan Cock-of-the-rock in captivity. There is some speculation that the simulation of male-male competition is important in lek formation and breeding, and that artificial environments may not properly reconstruct or imitate the natural environments. <ref>{{cite journal|last=Duce|first=S.|coauthors=J. Brannian|title=Social behavior of the Guianan cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola rupicola) in captivity|journal=Zoo Biology|year=1990|volume=9|series=223-232}}</ref> |
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The smaller of the two [[cock-of-the-rock|cocks-of-the-rock]], the male takes the lesser part in breeding, is [[polygamous]], and has nothing to do with nesting once mating is done. The male's energy instead is devoted to very elaborate display rituals that show off its magnificent plumage. These displays take place in communal [[Lek (animal behaviour)|leks]], where 40 or more males may gather to challenge rivals and beckon the females.<ref name= Burton>{{cite book|last=Burton|first=Maurice|coauthors=Robert Burton|title=International Wildlife Encyclopedia|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2002|page=490|isbn=978-0-7614-7270-4}}</ref><ref name=Ridgely>{{cite book|last=Ridgely|first=Robert S.|coauthors=Guy Tudor|others=|title=The Birds of South America: The Suboscine Passerines|publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1994 |pages=778–779 |isbn=0-19-857218-2}}</ref> |
The smaller of the two [[cock-of-the-rock|cocks-of-the-rock]], the male takes the lesser part in breeding, is [[polygamous]], and has nothing to do with nesting once mating is done. The male's energy instead is devoted to very elaborate display rituals that show off its magnificent plumage. These displays take place in communal [[Lek (animal behaviour)|leks]], where 40 or more males may gather to challenge rivals and beckon the females.<ref name= Burton>{{cite book|last=Burton|first=Maurice|coauthors=Robert Burton|title=International Wildlife Encyclopedia|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2002|page=490|isbn=978-0-7614-7270-4}}</ref><ref name=Ridgely>{{cite book|last=Ridgely|first=Robert S.|coauthors=Guy Tudor|others=|title=The Birds of South America: The Suboscine Passerines|publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1994 |pages=778–779 |isbn=0-19-857218-2}}</ref> |
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===Nesting=== |
===Nesting=== |
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The female lays 1-2 eggs in the nest of mud and plant material, which is attached by saliva to a vertical rock. The male does not participate in the building of the nest or the incubation of the eggs. Eggs incubate 27–28 days. |
The female lays 1-2 eggs in the nest of mud and plant material, which is attached by saliva to a vertical rock. The male does not participate in the building of the nest or the incubation of the eggs. Eggs incubate 27–28 days.The ideal nesting sites for this species can usually be sought out in a cave or vertical rock face with crevices which provide some shelter and protection for the elements. The next themselves are solid moldings formed from mud and plant material being deposited into the crevices. Due to the solid nature of these nests, they can usually persists from breeding season to breeding season, however, females will make repairs to their nests as breeding season begins. The nest themselves are strengthened by mixing with the females saliva, which hints at the mode in which nests are constructed, that is, the female ingest mud and plant material only to regurgitate them later. <ref name=Snow /> |
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==Status== |
==Status== |
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Revision as of 07:21, 16 November 2012
| Guianan Cock-of-the-rock | |
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| Scientific classification | |
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| Genus: | |
| Species: | R. rupicola
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| Binomial name | |
| Rupicola rupicola (Linnaeus, 1766)
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The Guianan Cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola rupicola) is a South American passerine about 30 cm (12 in) in length. The bright orange male has an extraordinary half-moon crest, which is used is competitive displays in lek gatherings to attract a female.
Description
The Guianan Cock-of-the-rock is a stout-bodied bird with an extraordinary half-moon crest, an orange-tipped black tail, black, orange and white wings, and silky-orange filaments of the inner remiges. Additionally, this species also has an orange bill, legs and skin. The less conspicuous female is dark brownish-grey overall and possesses a yellow-tipped black bill and a smaller crest. It has a total length of approximately 30 cm (12 in) and weighs 200-220 grams (7-7½ oz).
Range and habitat
As suggested by its name, the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock is found in the Guianan Shield, occurring in French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, southern Venezuela, eastern Colombia and northern Amazonian Brazil. The preferred habitat is humid forest near rocky outcrops.
Behaviour
Food and feeding
The diet consists mainly of fruits. Guianan Cock-of-the-rock are frugivorous, but data collected from droppings also suggests that this species is not exclusively consuming fruits. Small snakes and reptiles as well as insects make their way into the diet of the Cock-of-the-rock. [2]
As noted above, the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock bird is primarily frugivorous in adulthood. By selectively feeding on nearby fruit trees and then defecating or regurgitating the seeds within the leks, these birds actively influence the regeneration and succession of the forest habitat where they breed. [3]
Breeding
According to a detailed study and observation of ‘Rubicola rubicola’ conducted by Gillard E. T., the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock breeds around the early months of the year and lays its eggs around March.[4]
In this <<lek|lekking>> species, the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock (‘Rupicola rupicola’) mating success is dependent on a variety of factors that range from the plumage exhibited by a male to the composition of the lek itself. In one study, females of the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock were not restricted in sexual selection based off sequential comparisons or threshold standards. The hen Cock-of-the-rock engaged in a “pool-comparison” tactic, meaning that females chose males of higher rank in courtship, those with more matings received from other females, and ignored lower ranking individual males. The females in the study were individually observed to aggregate towards larger more centrally concentrated leks, demonstrating active female choice. While lekking, males will actively try to contrast themselves from the background and draw attention to attract the females. [5] [6]
During the height of mating season, males gather in leks with multiple males defending a social display arena of much greater area than that of a lone male. The females and males live separately, and only when it is time to mate, do females fly over to then observe and choose a male to mate with. When this occurs, the females simply tap the male from behind and insemination quickly follows. When females approach a lek, the males stand firmly and present themselves rigidly. It is suggested that one possible advantage to lek formation in Guianan Cock-of-the-rock is the severe selection and consequent rapid evolutionary advancement, all of which is possible due to the high expendability of males, only a few are needed to fertilize the next generation. The courtship behavior is similarly theorized to have arisen from differences in division of labor between the two sexes. Females expend their energy on building nests and rearing young, while males spend most of their time and energy of finding mates (caring for their plumage). [7]
Often times, Guianan Cock-of-the-rock birds engage in courtship disruption practices. In a different study conducted by Pepper Trail, the interactions between adult males, females, and yearlings were observed and linked to mate choice and male dispersion patterns within leks. Adult males produced this disruptive behavior with varying intensity which depended on the situation. For lower intensity disruptions, male Guianan Cock-of-the-rock birds usually directed aggression or threats towards neighboring males, in attempts to improve or maintain breeding status and success. The males that were hassled tended to be more successful and often were disrupted with much greater frequency than males with lower mating success. Higher intensity disruptions were utilized by less successful males and directed towards females that wondered by. This behavior is suggested to have the effect of redirecting females towards the hassling male. Yearlings disrupted courtships of the more mature adults on the basis of practice for future courtships, since the yearlings do not possess any territory within the lek. Female disruption was an uncommon event which had little effect if any at all on the accessibility of a male. Young males of highly promiscuous species such as the Cock-of-the rock fail to mate in their first year, likely because of the fact that older more experienced males will enjoy the majority of matings. In this strong system of sexual selection, the successive breeding of dominant and aggressive males leads to high sex drives and the endurance of polygyny. It is a theory that the selection of these aggressive males also puts a premium, or value, on female characteristics, hence a less likely occurrence of female-elicited aggression. [8] [9]
Due to the fact that Guianan Cock-of-the-rock forms large leks, averaging 55 adult males, males in these display leks were especially vulnerable to attacks and predation by large snakes and other natural predators. In manipulated groups of smaller size, around 6, predation was less likely to occur, giving rise to an inverse relationship between the number and frequency of attacks and the size of leks. Thus, with a smaller frequency of attacks on the smaller group, the smaller group of Guianan Cock-of-the-rock males was less likely to spook or disperse completely as compared to a large group where a false alarm could trigger a complete flush out 90% of the time. It was found that these birds have relatively ineffective methods of anti-predation and that only social anti-predation and the infrequency of encounters with predators was keeping these lekking males alive. [10]
It may be noteworthy to mention that there have been no successful attempts to breed Guianan Cock-of-the-rock in captivity. There is some speculation that the simulation of male-male competition is important in lek formation and breeding, and that artificial environments may not properly reconstruct or imitate the natural environments. [11]
The smaller of the two cocks-of-the-rock, the male takes the lesser part in breeding, is polygamous, and has nothing to do with nesting once mating is done. The male's energy instead is devoted to very elaborate display rituals that show off its magnificent plumage. These displays take place in communal leks, where 40 or more males may gather to challenge rivals and beckon the females.[12][13]
The displaying male shows its crest and plumage so much that the bill and tail become obscured, almost making it difficult to recognize as a bird. Within the lek, each bird has its own perch on a low branch, with a "court" on the ground below that is cleared of dead leaves by the draughts of each male taking off and landing. They also have a variety of calls and movements, showing off the crest and elongated filaments on the rump and secondaries, and snapping their bills.[12][13] Males display on branches about 2.5 m (10 ft) from the ground until a female approaches, when the males display and call from individual plots on the ground.[14] The female chooses a male by landing on the ground behind a male and pecking him on the rump, the male turns round, and mating takes place almost immediately.[14]
Nesting
The female lays 1-2 eggs in the nest of mud and plant material, which is attached by saliva to a vertical rock. The male does not participate in the building of the nest or the incubation of the eggs. Eggs incubate 27–28 days.The ideal nesting sites for this species can usually be sought out in a cave or vertical rock face with crevices which provide some shelter and protection for the elements. The next themselves are solid moldings formed from mud and plant material being deposited into the crevices. Due to the solid nature of these nests, they can usually persists from breeding season to breeding season, however, females will make repairs to their nests as breeding season begins. The nest themselves are strengthened by mixing with the females saliva, which hints at the mode in which nests are constructed, that is, the female ingest mud and plant material only to regurgitate them later. [4]
Status
Fairly common locally in its large range, the Guianan Cock-of-the-rock is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
References
- ^ Template:IUCN
- ^ Erard, C (1989). "The diet and of the Guianan cock-of-the-rock Rupicola rupicola. The relationships between frugivory and zoochory". REV. ECOL. 44 (1): 47–74.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Thery, Marc (1993). "Seed dispersal and vegetation dynamics at a cock-of-the-rock's lek in the tropical forest of French Guiana". Journal of Tropical Ecology. 9: 109–116.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Snow, D. W. (1971). "Notes on the biology of the Cock-of-the-rock(Rupicola rupicola)". JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY. 112 (3): 323–333.
- ^ Endler, John A. (Sep. 1996). "Interacting Effects of Lek Placement, Display Behavior, Ambient Light, and Color Patterns in Three Neotropical Forest-Dwelling Birds". The American Naturalist. 148 (3): 421–452.
{{cite journal}}: Check|url=value (help); Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Trail, Pepper W. (1989). "Active mate choice at cock-of-the-rock leks: tactics of sampling and comparison". BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY. 25 (4): 283–292. doi:10.1007/BF00300055.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Gilliard, E. Thomas. "On the breeding behavior of the cock-of-the-rock (Aves, Rupicola rupicola)". Bulletin of the AMNH. 124 (2).
- ^ Trail, Pepper W. (1986). "Courtship Disruption at the Lek in the Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock". Ethology. 73: 197–218. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1986.tb00911.x.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Selander, Robert K. (1965). "On Mating Systems and Sexual Selection". The American Naturalist. 99 (906): 129–141.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Trail, Pepper W. (1987). "Predation and Antipredator Behavior at Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock Leks". The Auk. 104 (3): 496–507.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Duce, S. (1990). "Social behavior of the Guianan cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola rupicola) in captivity". Zoo Biology. 223-232. 9.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Burton, Maurice (2002). International Wildlife Encyclopedia. Marshall Cavendish. p. 490. ISBN 978-0-7614-7270-4.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Ridgely, Robert S. (1994). The Birds of South America: The Suboscine Passerines. University of Texas Press. pp. 778–779. ISBN 0-19-857218-2.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Attenborough, David (1998) [First published 1998]. "Finding partners". The Life of Birds. England: BBC Books. pp. 211–212. ISBN 0-563-38792-0.