Lance-tailed Manakin

This manakin is a fairly common bird of dry and moist deciduous forests, but not rainforest. The female builds a cup nest in a tree; two brown-mottled cream eggs are laid, and incubated entirely by the female for about 20 days.

The Lance-tailed Manakin is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

Female lance-tailed manakins move among dispersed male territories to watch male displays, often repeatedly observing multiple males before selecting a mate. Why are females so choosy? How does mating with one male rather than another affect offspring viability, survival, and eventual reproductive success? In collaboration with Bart Kempenaers, I’m examining the influence of indirect genetic benefits on female mate choice by combining analyses of sire and offspring genetic variability with field studies of mating behavior and phenotype. More

The Lance-tailed Manakin, Chiroxiphia lanceolata, is a small passerine bird which breeds in tropical Central and South America from Costa Rica to northern Venezuela. This manakin is a fairly common bird of dry and moist deciduous forests, but not rainforest. The female builds a cup nest in a tree; two brown-mottled cream eggs are laid, and incubated entirely by the female for about 20 days. Like other manakins, the Lance-tailed Manakin is a compact, brightly coloured forest bird, typically 13. More

Adult male lance-tailed manakin on a branch. Click here for more information. - Why do some individuals sacrifice their own self-interest to help others? The evolution and maintenance of cooperative behavior is a classic puzzle in evolutionary biology. In some animal societies, cooperation occurs in close-knit family groups and kin selection explains apparently selfless behavior. Not so for the lance-tailed manakin. More

call types of the Lance-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia lanceolata) of southern Central America. Manakins (Pipridae) are known for the elaborate displays of males on lek. Some species (Club-winged Manakin) even have modified wings to produce structure buzzing and clicking sounds in display. (Photo by Emily Duval. Source) The Lance-tailed Manakin exhibits the unusual trait of cooperative male displays on leks. More

The male Lance-tailed Manakin has an interesting breeding display, unusual in that it is cooperative rather than competitive. Two males perch next to each other on a bare stick and jump up and down alternately, sometimes giving short flights. Groups of birds may perform together, with a different stick for each pair of displaying males. Description: Like other manakins, the Lance-tailed Manakin is a compact, brightly colored forest bird, typically 13.5 cm long and weighing 17.5 g. More

of the lance-tailed manakin (Chiroxiphia lanceolata) is more likely to elevate to center stage than feathered friends who don’t play supporting roles, said Emily DuVal of the University of California, ... Articles from Helium. More

Adult male lance-tailed manakin on a branch. Credit: Emily Duval Some birds take the “wingman” approach to scoring a mate, the ornithological equivalent of two guys sallying up to a hot girl in a bar in hopes that one will get lucky. This behavior isn’t totally selfless, however, and it turns out males of one tropical bird species receive future benefits from helping out an alpha pal. More

lance-tailed manakins in Panamá to follow changes in status over multiple years. Then she used genetic analyses to determine chicks' paternity and genetic relationships among adults. The results of DuVal's work, to be published in the April issue of The American Naturalist, showed that male partners were unrelated, and betas rarely sired chicks, ruling out two of the major hypotheses explaining males' cooperative behavior. More

Lance-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia lanceolata) by Chris Parrish. Guayabital, 1. More