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Blue-capped manakin
Adult male photographed in Manacapuru, Brazil
call recorded in Ecuador
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pipridae
Genus:	Lepidothrix
Species:	L. coronata
Binomial name
Lepidothrix coronata (Spix, 1825)
Synonyms
Pipra coronata Spix, 1825

The blue-capped manakin (Lepidothrix coronata) is a species of bird in the family Pipridae. The males have a brilliant blue cap; some have black, others have green body plumage, but the relationship between the subspecies is not well understood.

It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and heavily degraded former forest.

Taxonomy

The blue-capped manakin was formally described in 1825 by the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix under the binomial name Pipra coronata. The type locality is the state of São Paulo de Olivença in western Brazil. The specific epithet is from Latin coronatus meaning "crowned". The blue-capped manakin is now the type species of the genus Lepidothrix that was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854.

Phylogeny based on Ohlson et al. 2013.

Subspecies

Six subspecies are recognised, but see the text below the table.

With the exception of L. c. carbonata, the subspecies categories listed above are not supported phylogenetically. They were instead named based on differences in male plumage. Blue-capped manakins differ genetically into six clades based on geographic location: trans-Andean, Venezuela, North Amazon, Napo-Marañon, Central Peru, and South Peru/Bolivia. Interestingly, birds of highly different plumage fall into the same clades. For example, L. c. exquisita, which has green plumage males, and L. c. coronata, which has completely black colored males, both fall into the Central Peru clade.

Based on significant vocal and phylogenetic differences, in July 2022 the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society split L. c. velutina and L. c. minuscula from L. coronata and named the resulting L. velutina the velvety manakin. They also renamed the now-reduced L. carbonata "blue-capped manakin" to avoid confusion with the pre-split species. The velvety manakin was therefore promoted to species status and the "blue-crowned manakin" renamed to the blue-capped manakin.

Evolution

Blue-capped manakins vary genetically based on geographic location. Physical boundaries, such as large Amazonian rivers and the Andes Mountains, tend to separate genetically distinct blue-capped manakins. The uplift of the Andes Mountains seem to be the first major source of separation between blue-capped manakin populations followed by the establishment of Amazonian rivers. The Amazon River separates North and South Amazonian clades and the Napo River separates the North Amazon and Napo-Marañon clades. Large rivers present a barrier to Blue-crowned manakins despite being flighted because they prefer the understory of terra firme (non-flooded) forests. Central Peru and South Peru/Bolivia clades and Venezuela and Amazonia clades are not separated by a geographic barrier. It is likely that they instead historically separated and evolved separately for a period of time.

Description

Blue-capped manakins show sexual dimorphism in weight and wing chord length. Females are heavier at 9.8 g on average with a max weight of 11.5 g and a minimum weight of 8.5 g. Males are 8.5 g on average with a maximum weight of 9.5 g and a minimum weight of 7.5 g. Males have a wing chord length of 60.45 mm on average with a maximum length of 63 mm and a minimum length of 58 mm. Females have a wing chord length of 58.76 mm on average with a maximum length of 62 mm and a minimum length of 55 mm.

Males are sooty black with a bright blue crown while females are green. Juvenile plumage is similar to female plumage but is duller in color. Their first prebasic molt occurs within 2 months of leaving the nest and is a partial molt. Their second prebasic molt occurs at the end of the first breeding season or one year after their first prebasic molt. This molt is complete, so they lose their molt limits. At this stage, males gain signs of male plumage. The third prebasic molt occurs at the end of their third year and males gain full male plumage.

Vocalizations

The blue-capped manakin's contact call is a swee sound. It is used by blue-capped manakins of all ages and sex. Males will use it while perching on their song perch, while interacting with other blue-crowned manakins, and while performing some of their display behaviors. Females and fledglings use a soft swee sound during foraging. Adult females will also use this call when visiting a territorial male. Their contact call can be a single note or in bouts of a varying number of repetitions. It is a high pitch note that increases in pitch from 2.8 to 5.7 kHz. Territorial males use an advertisement call that sounds like chi-wrr. It can be a single note or 3-5 repetitions. This call is composed of three parts. First, a lower pitched swee sound of 3–5 kHz. Second, a short descending note of three stacked harmonics or 1.4, 2.8, and 4.8 kHz. Third, a harsh note of two harmonics of 2.0 and 3.9 kHz. Males make a preew call when interacting with males and females in their territory. It is composed of 4-5 rapid oscillations between 3.1 and 6 kHz. During display, males make a pee call of 1-10 repetitions. It consists of both flat notes and harmonics between 1.5 and 15 kHz.

Distribution and habitat

Blue-capped manakins live in terra firme forest understory of South America.

Behavior and ecology

Breeding

Breeding season coincides with the dry season (late November to early April). Males are known to display alone or form leks of up to seven males. Adult and juvenile males form territories though juveniles are unable to maintain their own territory. Their territories range from 206 to 5045 m² in size. They defend their territory and attract mates through song. They perform their songs on song perches that are horizontal or slightly angled twigs and will sing between 6am and 5pm. Their display courts are 3–5 m in diameter and are located close to the ground in the open understory. They use up to two courts at a time, but courts can change location annually. Their courtship displays are somewhat complex with a total of 11 behaviors, 6 of which are aerial. Female's home ranges average 4 ha in size and overlap with one lek on average.

Blue-capped manakins make simple, open-cup nests using dry palm, dry leaves, and/or bark externally. The internal lining of their nest is pale brown, but can also be whitish or yellow. They use spider webs to secure their nests to the tree. They chose small shrubs and treelets that are less than 1 meter tall and place their nests on horizontal forks. They typically nest in Rudgea spp., Ixora killipii, R. viridifoliax, and R. lindenicana along small ravines. Females are the sole nest builders and take care of their offspring alone. They lay two eggs per clutch. Their nests experience high predation rates. To help mitigate this risk, Blue-crowned manakins choose nesting sites away from wire-tailed manakins, a species that favors similar nesting environments. This reduces the number of birds nesting in one area and thus reduces the chance that predators will predate the area.

Food and feeding

Blue-capped manakins are frugivores. Their diet includes fruit from Melastomataceae, Moraceae, Bromeliaceae, and Araceae.

When feeding in a mixed flock, blue-capped manakins tend to flock with cinereus and dusty-throated antshrikes, and the white-flanked, Yasuni, long-winged, gray, and rufous-tailed stipplethroats. These flocks are typically only composed of one or two blue-capped manakins. When there are two blue-capped manakins in a flock, they forage independently from one another. Their behavior is never aggressive toward other species of birds in the flock. Both males and females forage in mixed flocks, but females spend more time on average in the flock. They forage in the understory between a height of 2–7 m. Their preferred food while in flocks are arthropods, including ants, flies, and other small insects. While catching arthropods, their hunting technique was often a sally-strike or sally-glean off of live foliage. Considering their normally frugivorous diet, it is speculated that the blue-capped manakins are taking advantage of the flock's ability to cause insects to scatter.

Threats

Blue-capped manakins experience high nest predation rates with 70% of nests failing due to predation. It is estimated that only 7.5% of nests successfully fledge young. It is uncertain how blue-crowned manakins maintain population size with such a low rate of success, but it has been speculated that high female survivability and multiple breeding attempts per season may be a factor.

Blue-capped manakins can get infected with haemosporidian parasites. A genetic study revealed that half of the sampled manakins were infected with blood parasites, representing nine different types. Young individuals had higher infection rates compared to adults.

Status

The blue-capped manakin has least concern conservation status. A major factor in this decision is its large range of 5,050,000 km (1,950,000 sq mi). Its population size is unknown, but has a decreasing trend.

References

1. BirdLife International (2016). "Lepidothrix coronata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22701012A93809726. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22701012A93809726.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
2. von Spix, Johann Baptist (1825). Avium species novae, quas Brasiliam anus MDCCCXVII - MDCCCXX (in Latin). Vol. 2. Monachii : Franc. Seraph. Hübschmanni. p. 5, Plate 7 fig. 1.
3. Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 273.
4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
5. Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1854). "Conspectus Volucrum Anisodactylorum". L'Ateneo Italiano. Raccolta di Documenti e Memorie Relative al Progresso delle Scienze Fisiche. 2 (11): 311–321 .
6. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Cotingas, manakins, tityras, becards". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
7. Ohlson, Jan I.; Fjeldså, Jon; Ericson, Per G.P. (2013). "Molecular phylogeny of the manakins (Aves: Passeriformes: Pipridae), with a new classification and the description of a new genus". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 69 (3): 796–804. Bibcode:2013MolPE..69..796O. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.06.024. PMID 23831559.
8. ^ Cheviron, Z.A.; Hackett, Shannon J.; Capparella, Angelo P. (August 2005). "Complex evolutionary history of a Neotropical lowland forest bird (Lepidothrix coronata) and its implications for historical hypotheses of the origin of Neotropical avian diversity". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 36 (2): 338–357. Bibcode:2005MolPE..36..338C. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.01.015. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 15955514.
9. ^ "Blue-crowned Manakin (Lepidothrix coronata)". www.hbw.com. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
10. Meyer de Schauensee, Rodolphe (1953). "Manakins and Cotingas from Ecuador and Peru". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 105: 29–43. JSTOR 4064468.
11. Moncrieff, A.E.; Faircloth, B.C.; Brumfield, R.T. (2022). "Systematics of Lepidothrix manakins (Aves: Passeriformes: Pipridae) using RADcap markers". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 173 (107525): 107525. Bibcode:2022MolPE.17307525M. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107525. PMID 35577299. S2CID 248803313.
12. Moncrieff, Andre E. (June 2022). "Proposal 943: Recognize Lepidothrix velutina as a separate species from Lepidothrix coronata". South American Classification Committee, American Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
13. Aulicky, Carly (2014). The Ecology of Blue-crowned Manakins (Lepidothrix coronata) : a Comparison Study of Biometric Sexing using Discriminant Analyses (Thesis). OCLC 887854176.
14. ^ Durães, Renata. (2008). Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Lekking Behavior and Female Mate Choice in the Blue-crowned Manakin (Lepidothrix coronata, Aves: Pipridae) (Thesis). University of Missouri--St. Louis. OCLC 516213742.
15. Rider, Thomas B. (2005). "It's not easy being green: using molt and morphological criteria to age and sex green-plumage manakins (Aves: Pipridae)" (PDF). Ornitologia Neotropical. 16: 481–491.
16. ^ Durães, Renata (2009). "Lek structure and male display repertoire of blue-crowned manakins in eastern Ecuador". The Condor. 111 (3): 453–461. doi:10.1525/cond.2009.080100. S2CID 85736889.
17. ^ Hidalgo, J.; Ryder, T.; Tori, W.; Durães, R.; Blake, J.; Loiselle, B. (2007). "Nest architecture and placement of three manakin species in lowland Ecuador" (PDF). Cotinga. 29: 57–61.
18. ^ Hidalgo, Jose R. (2012). "Nest site selection by blue-crowned (Lepidothrix coronata) and wire-tailed (Pipra filicauda) manakins in lowland Ecuador". Ornitologia Neotropical. 23: 63–71.
19. Loiselle, Bette A.; Blake, John G.; Durães, Renata; Ryder, T. Brandt; Tori, Wendy (2007). "Environmental and spatial segregation of leks among six co-occurring species of manakins (Pipridae) in eastern Ecuador". The Auk. 124 (2): 420. doi:10.1093/auk/124.2.420.
20. Buitron-Jurado, Galo (2008). "Foraging behavior of two species of manakins (Pipridae) in mixed-species flocks in Yasuní, Ecuador" (PDF). Ornitologica Neotropical. 19: 243–253.
21. Ryder, Thomas B.; Durães, Renata; Tori, Wendy P.; Hidalgo, José R.; Loiselle, Bette A.; Blake, John G. (May 2008). "Nest survival for two species of manakins (Pipridae) in lowland Ecuador". Journal of Avian Biology. 39 (3): 355–358. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2008.04290.x. ISSN 0908-8857.
22. Bosholn, Mariane; Anciães, Marina; Gil, Diego; Weckstein, Jason D.; Dispoto, Janice H.; Fecchio, Alan (2020). "Individual variation in feather corticosterone levels and its influence on haemosporidian infection in a Neotropical bird". Ibis. 162 (1): 215–226. doi:10.1111/ibi.12709. ISSN 1474-919X.
23. "Blue-crowned manakin Lepidothrix coronata". Data Zone BirdLife International. 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.

Further reading

• Reis, C.A.; Dias, C.; Araripe, J.; Aleixo, A.; Anciães, M.; Sampaio, M.; Schneider, H.; Sena do Rêgo, P. (2019). "Multilocus data of a manakin species reveal cryptic diversification moulded by vicariance". Zoologica Scripta. 49 (2): 129–144. doi:10.1111/zsc.12395. S2CID 209573931.
• Skutch, Alexander F. (1969). "Blue-crowned manakin" (PDF). Life Histories of Central American Birds III: Families Cotingidae, Pipridae, Formicariidae, Furnariidae, Dendrocolaptidae, and Picidae. Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 35. Berkeley, California: Cooper Ornithological Society. pp. 97–109.

• IUCN Red List least concern species
• Lepidothrix
• Birds of the Colombian Amazon
• Birds of the Amazon rainforest
• Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon
• Birds of Peruvian Amazonia
• Birds of the Venezuelan Amazon
• Birds of the Bolivian Amazon
• Birds described in 1825