Despite being so tiny he is nonetheless very striking with his bright red forehead and equally bright speed stripe running down his back.
Meet the Pin-tailed Manakin
The pin-tailed manakin (Ilicura militaris) measures only 12.5 cm (4.9 in) in length. Adult males are highly distinctive with their uniquely pigmented red fore-crown and rump. They have black wings with green secondary feathers, and underneath is a white chest that runs all the way from the rump up the throat directly under the bill. They have a forked tail, brown-black legs, and yellow-orange eyes.
Females are mostly olive green except for a grey neck and auriculars, and a cream-colored chest.
Juvenile male birds look very much like their female counterparts.
“File:Pin-tailed manakin (Ilicura militaris).jpg” by https://www.flickr.com/photos/dariosanches is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
This species can be found in and is endemic to the eastern coast of Brazil.
Pin-tailed manakin lives in the humid Atlantic Forest which extends from the state of Bahia to the state of Rio Grande Do Sul.
The Pin-tailed manakin is thought to be a primarily frugivorous bird, but it has been recorded consuming small amounts of insects from time to time.
During the breeding season, the male establishes a display area of 20 to 30 meters, called a lek, where he puts on a show for any potential mate. Within the lek is a mating perch which is around 3.3 to 20 meters above the ground. The female is drawn to the leg by his frequent “see” calls. Once a female is in the area the male will draw her to his mating perch and jump back and forth over her, sometimes making a snapping noise in the air, and fluffing out the vibrant red rump with his chin down when he lands facing her.
This species has a very large range and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion hence the species is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, though it is under threat from deforestation.
“File:Ilicura militaris-female.jpg” by https://www.flickr.com/photos/dariosanches/ is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
You can watch this bird right here in the video below:
