White-throated Manakin

Overview

The white-throated manakin, Corapipo gutturalis, is a small passerine bird in the family Pipridae. It is a year-round resident of the humid forests of northern South America.

Identification

• Males are glossy blue-black with a distinct white chin, throat, and upper breast that forms a downward point on the throat.
• Females have dull olive upperparts and mostly grayish white underparts.
• A white patch on the inner webs of the inner primaries is visible in flight on males.
• Both sexes possess a dark iris and a grayish horn to pinkish bill.

Habitat

This species primarily inhabits the interior of humid forest, usually on somewhat hilly terrain, and occasionally occurs at forest edges. Its range extends from Venezuela eastward to the Atlantic coast in Brazil, covering parts of the Guianas and northern Brazil north of the Amazon.

Diet

The bird feeds on small fruits and insects, with a preference for fruits of the Melastomataceae family. It forages in the mid-story of the forest by taking prey in sallies from perches and regularly joins mixed-species feeding flocks.

Did you know?

The male's complex courtship display often centres around a large fallen log, involving flights between the log and a perch, bouncing along the log, and a spiral upward flight that ends with a drop back to the log.