Animalia Life

Chiroxiphia linearis
SUBFAMILY
Piprinae
TAXONOMY
Pipra linearis Bonaparte, 1838, Mexico = Santa Efigenia, Oaxaca.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Manakin fastueux; German: Langschwanzpipra; Spanish: Saltarнn Toledo, Saltarнn de Cola Larga.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Sexes differ. Female’s length is 5.5 in (14 cm), including 1 in (2.5 cm), elongated, central tail feathers. Male’s length is 8.5–10.5 in (21.5–26.5 cm), including 3.9–5.9 in (10–15 cm), elongated, central tail feathers. Weight is 0.7 oz (19 g). The male is mostly black with an azure blue back, a red crown with a rear projecting crest, and long, central tail feathers. Females are olive-green. Distinctive orange legs and feet.
DISTRIBUTION
Southern Mexico to Costa Rica.
HABITAT
Open vine tangles and thick undergrowth of dry or humid forest, secondary forest and plantation borders, and borders of mangroves swamps.
BEHAVIOR
Mercedes S. Foster conducted classic observations of the longtailed manakin. In the advertising call, male pairs or trios synchronously repeat, “To-lay-do,” from which their Spanish name has been derived. In the Up-Down Dance, males alternately make fluttering jumps straight upward into the air. In the Cartwheel Dance, each male in turn flutters up and backward in a vertical circle to land on the spot previously occupied by his dance partner. As many as 100 jumps may be completed per cartwheel sequence. The dominant male, who gets all copulations, finally ends the cooperative display and dismisses his dance partner with a single piercing note pweet!.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Uses sallying flight to pluck small fruits from tropical, evergreen understory trees like Ardisia revoluta (Myrsinaceae), as well as from shade-intolerant secondary growth trees such as Cecropia peltata.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Following copulation, the female leaves to build the nest, incubate eggs, and raise the young on her own. The nest is a shallow cup of fibers, mosses, grasses, and dry leaves, attached by its rim and suspended from horizontal forks in small trees, approximately 27 ft (8 m) above the ground. The nest is not placed with any obvious connection to the lek. One, or usually two, buffy eggs with heavy brown spotting are laid. Fruit is included in the diet of the offspring.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. Common in its preferred habitat; abundant in some areas.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Eco-tourists and birdwatchers enjoy seeing the males.

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