ORNITOLOGIA NEOTROPICAL 23: 307–310, 2012 © The Neotropical Ornithological Society

BOOK REVIEWS—RESEÑAS DE LIBROS—RESENHAS DE LIVROS

Edited by John G. Blake

(To whom books for review should be sent)

Cotingas and Manakins. — Guy M. Kirwan and includes Schiffornis, Iodopleura, Laniocera, & Graeme Green, illustrated by Eustace Bar- and Laniisoma as well as tityras and becards. nes. 2012. Princeton University Press, Prince- The Sharpbill (Oxyruncus cristatus) is reinstated ton, New Jersey, USA. 624 pp. ISBN 978-0- in its own family, the Oxyruncidae. The enig- 691-15352-0. Hard cover. Price $55.00. matic Broad-billed Sapayoa (Sapayoa aenigma) “Cotingas and Manakins” is an impressive has been shown to be more closely related to volume of over 600 pages, densely packed the Old World broadbills (Eurylaimidae) and with detailed, up-to-date information. In their “Cotingas and Manakins” uses that family preface, the authors acknowledge their debt name. Illustrating the changing nature of our to the late David Snow whose many publica- understanding of systematics, however, the tions have contributed so much to our under- sapayoa has more recently been placed in its standing of these extraordinary birds. They own family (Sapayoidae) (Remsen et al. 2012). express the hope that David Snow would The affinities of Calyptura, Phibalura, and the have approved of their book. I am sure that three species of Piprites remain uncertain and he would. they are treated as Incertae Sedis. Cotingas and manakins include some of As a result of these taxonomic changes, the most colorful and ornate of all birds, the species included in “Cotingas and including many with bizarre courtship dis- Manakins” have become a rather arbitrary plays and vocalizations. Some have been stud- selection. The authors have understandably ied intensively, contributing much to our chosen to include the interesting genera Sapa- understanding of lekking behavior and rela- yoa, Oxyruncus, and the three that are Incertae tionships between fruit eating and seed dis- Sedis. They have also included part of the new persal, while others are among the rarest and family Tityridae (Schiffornis, Laniocera, Lanii- least known of birds. soma, and Iodopleura) but have left out the The systematics of the cotingas and tityras and becards which were removed from manakins have long been controversial and the cotingas as early as the 1970s. have been much revised over the past few The text of “Cotingas and Manakins” is decades. When the authors began work on scholarly, comprehensive and up-to-date, their book, just the two families, the Cot- making good use of the more than 1,700 pub- ingidae and Pipridae, were involved. Now, as a lications listed in the huge bibliography. The result of past and ongoing morphological and introductory chapters, dealing with such gen- genetic studies, five families are involved. One eral topics as movements and migrations, new family, the Tityridae, has been erected breeding biology, food and foraging, etc., are

307 BOOK REVIEWS—RESEÑAS DE LIVROS—RESENHAS DE LIVROS excellent and comparable with the equivalent feature the same species. Also, many readers material in the cotinga and manakin entries in will find the font size too small for comfort- the “Handbook of the Birds of the World” able reading. (Snow 2004a, b). The individual species To summarize, “Cotingas and Manakins” accounts are very detailed, including sections is a superb reference book and a valuable on identification, distribution, movements, addition to any library. It invites comparison habitat, description, measurements, geo- with the cotinga and manakin entries in the graphical variation, voice, natural history, “Handbook of the Birds of the World.” Both food and feeding, display, breeding, status, works have excellent introductory chapters and references. The range maps for each spe- and for general background I would recom- cies appear to be accurate. Some include the mend referring to both. For detailed informa- ranges of subspecies, particularly in cases tion about individual species, “Cotingas and where there are potential “splits.” I would Manakins” includes much more information have preferred the international boundaries to and is more up-to-date. However, it is a heavy be more prominently outlined on the maps, volume (weighing in at about 1.8 kg) and making the distributional limits of species probably not one that I would take on a field within countries a little easier to see. trip to South America. The 34 plates are decorative but variable To complete this review, I am going to in quality. Some are good, capturing the “jizz” comment on a few of the cotingas that my or gestalt of the birds well, but in a few the wife and I have come to know well while liv- birds seem a little stiff and in others the col- ing in Costa Rica (30 years adjacent to the ors appear to be not quite right. The eye- Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve) and NW catching cover, depicting Guianan Cocks-of- Ecuador (eight years in the Tandayapa Valley). the-Rock (Rupicola rupicola), is very good. In Scaled Fruiteater (Ampelioides tschudii). Will- addition to plates, the book includes about iams (2002) reported Scaled Fruiteaters feed- 400 photographs chosen “to illustrate aspects ing on arboreal snails. In the chapter on food of the identification and life history of the and foraging in “Cotingas and Manakins”, species concerned.” As a whole, they are not this behavior is described as “aberrant” but it as technically or aesthetically excellent as the is a method of feeding that we have seen or superb selection of photographs in the heard on many occasions and regard as “Handbook of the Birds of the World.” Nev- entirely normal for this species. The sound of ertheless, they are a valuable addition, illus- a snail being smashed against a branch is trating typical plumages, postures, and often the first indication that a Scaled behavior. Fruiteater is in the area. Apparently, there are There seem to be very few typos or mis- few data on fruits eaten by the Scaled prints in the text, although I did notice that Fruiteater. The following are important in the one tyrant-manakin is “more readily cen- Tandayapa Valley: Acnistus arborescens (Sola- sured using mist-nets than by other tech- naceae), Hedyosmum (Chloranthaceae), Helico- niques” (Fig. 1 caption, page 123). There are a nia burleana (Heliconiaceae), and Palicourea couple of design features that are rather dis- (Rubiaceae). concerting. Almost half the species accounts Three-wattled Bellbird (Procnias tricaruncula- begin on the right-hand page facing a full tus). Over the last few decades, the Three- page of photographs of the preceding species. wattled Bellbird has declined throughout its It would have been more sensible and useful range, though the magnitude of the decline is for text and photographs on these spreads to not widely appreciated. During the 30 years

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(1977–2007) that we lived next to the Mon- gatherings of males are unpredictable in tim- teverde Preserve, we regularly monitored bell- ing and often occur away from leks. They are bird numbers. In 1979 and 1982, before the not in any sense traditional and not part of decline, we took compass bearings on birds normal lekking behavior. Also, as the males that we could hear from our house, several of are so active, engaging in supplanting attacks which were the same as those mapped by Bar- and chases, it is difficult to imagine that suc- bara Snow (1974). The bearings showed the cessful mating could take place. I suspect that presence of at least 10–12 males calling from the gatherings are to do with establishing male fixed territories during the first few weeks of dominance hierarchies. It is quite common to the breeding season (late March and April). encounter similar gatherings of Andean During bouts of peak calling, we could hear Cocks-of-the-Rock (see below). 50-65 calls per minute and, including birds Olivaceous Piha (Snowornis cryptolophus). All with temporary territories, there were proba- accounts of this species state that it is largely bly 20 males in the area. By 1995, there was a silent. We agree. It is a species that we maximum of only five calling birds at any one encounter regularly on our property in the time and calling rates never exceeded 15 calls Tandayapa Valley but we have heard it voca- per minute. A few males continued to visit lise only twice, our notes describing the calls and call in the area during the late 1990s and as “a soft, guttural rattle”. Both calls were early 2000s, but they moved around, called made during chases at fruiting trees. We have only sporadically, and no longer occupied per- never heard anything that sounded like song manent, traditional calling sites. In 2002, one and nothing resembling the loud and distinc- of the worst years, we counted every call that tive song of the closely related Grey-tailed we heard during a 9-week period from mid- Piha (Snowornis subalaris). Fruits taken by the April to late June. We heard calls on only nine Olivaceous Piha include Clusia (Clusiaceae), days and a total of only 48 calls – less than a Hedyosmum (Chloranthaceae), Disterigma (Eri- minute’s worth during peak calling in the caceae), Ossaea (Melastomataceae), Palicourea, 1970s or 1980s. and Psychotria (Rubiaceae). Bare-necked Umbrellabird (Cephalopterus gla- Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruvi- bricollis). The descriptions of the lekking anus). Most sources, including “Cotingas and behavior of this species in “Cotingas and Manakins,” state that the Andean Cock-of- Manakins” involve two different types of the-Rock feeds mainly on fruit which is behavior. As with the other two umbrella- plucked in flight. In our experience (watching birds, Bare-necked Umbrellabirds display on birds feeding around our house in the Tan- traditional, exploded leks which are used daily dayapa Valley), taking fruit while perched is during the breeding season and year after year. equally common, which method is used Males are well separated and interactions depending on the distribution of fruit on between males and females typically take plants. Many fruits (e.g. in the Lauraceae) are place early in the morning and “in private.” It borne on the tip of slender twigs, or on long is also quite common to encounter gatherings peduncles, where they are inaccessible to of males engaged in prolonged and noisy perched birds as heavy as cocks-of-the-rock. bouts of display. Such gatherings often occur Such fruits are plucked in flight. However, in the vicinity of a fruiting tree and, inevitably, many other plants bear their fruits on, or sometimes within the area of a lek (exploded within reach of, substantial branches, twigs, or leks occupy several hectares). However, in our other supports. Figs are an obvious example. experience (Fogden & Fogden 1997), the Fruits that are commonly taken by Andean

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Cocks-of-the-Rock while perched include species “dancing” and performing communal Dendropanax (Araliaceae), Cecropia (Cecropi- displays like manakins. More observations are aceae), Hedyosmum (Chloranthaceae), Heliconia badly needed and likely to be very rewarding. (Heliconiaceae), Ficus (Moraceae), Palicourea, – Michael Fogden, Old Hall Farm Barns, Cley and Psychotria (Rubiaceae). Taking fruit in Next The Sea, Norfolk NR25 7SF, UK. flight is energetically more expensive than E-mail: [email protected] taking fruit while perched, so it makes sense that birds should take advantage of perches REFERENCES whenever they can do so efficiently. Soon after settling in the Tandayapa Val- Fogden, M. P. L., & P. M. Fogden. 1997. Notes on ley, we encountered a gathering of 6–8 male the behaviour of Bare-necked Umbrellabird cocks-of-the-rock displaying together and Cephalopterus glabricollis in the Monteverde making a tremendous din. We thought we had Cloud Forest Preserve, Costa Rica. Cotinga 8: found a new lek. Since then we have encoun- 23–26. Olalla, A. M. 1943. Algumas observações sobre a tered similar gatherings on numerous occa- biologia das aves e mamíferos sul-americanos. sions, usually in the mid to late morning, Pap. Avuls. Dep. Zool. São Paulo 3: 229–236. sometimes in the vicinity of a fruiting tree. Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Such gatherings have never occurred in the Nores, J. F. Pacheco, J. Pérez-Emán, M. B. Rob- same area for longer than a few successive bins, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, & K. J. Zimmer. A days and all have been several hundred metres classification of the bird species of South away from the nearest known lek. It seems America. American Ornithologists’ Union. likely that such gatherings have to do with Downloaded on 15 May 2012 from http:// establishing male dominance hierarchies. www.museum.lsu.edu~Remsen/SACCBase- Black-necked Red-Cotinga (Phoenicircus nigri- line.html. collis). In 1987, we spent six weeks at Explor- Snow, B. K. 1977. Territorial behavior and court- ship of the male Three-wattled Bellbird. Auk napo Lodge in Peru, part of which time was 94: 623–645. spent watching and photographing the lek- Snow, D. W. 2004a. Family Cotingidae (cotingas). king behavior of the Black-necked Red- Pp. 32–108 in del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, & D. A. Cotinga. Most of what we observed was simi- Christie (eds). Handbook of the Birds of the lar to published accounts, namely calling and World. Volume 9: Cotingas to pipits and wag- displaying on horizontal lianas about 10 m tails. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. above the ground. However, on our last Snow, D. W. 2004b. Family Pipridae (manakins). morning we heard loud noises from behind Pp. 110–168 in del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, & D. A. our photographic blind and had brief Christie (eds). Handbook of the Birds of the glimpses of activity taking place on the World. Volume 9: Cotingas to pipits and wag- ground on what later inspection showed to be tails. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Williams, R. S. R. 2002. Consumption of arboreal a small cleared area. Unfortunately, we had no snails by Scaled Fruiteater Ampelioides tschudii. time for more observations. In this context, it Cotinga 18: 100. is interesting that Olalla (1943) described this

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