NL·0631Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Machaeropterus deliciosus
- Family
- Pipridae
- Native to
- Western slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador (the Chocó region)
- Habitat
- Tropical montane forest, Foothill rainforest
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Club-winged Manakin
Live sightings near you, the range map, bar charts of when it is seen, and Macaulay Library photos and recordings.
Club-winged manakin
Machaeropterus deliciosus
Also calledSaltarín alitorcido (Spanish)
A tiny Andean manakin whose males 'sing' with their wings. Specialised, club-shaped feathers rub together like a bow on a violin string, producing a sustained high note.
The club-winged manakin is a species of bird in the family Pipridae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iMales produce a tonal note near 1,500 Hz by rubbing modified secondary feathers together over 100 times a second (Bostwick & Prum, Science, 2005)
- iiOne wing feather bears a row of ridges and another a stiff tip, like a comb and pick
- iiiUnlike almost all other birds, it has solid rather than hollow wing bones, which help support the vibrating feathers
In the field
Field marks
- aMale: rich chestnut body with a bright red crown
- bBlack and white in the wings; white on the inner wing visible in display
- cFemale: olive-green with a cinnamon-tinged face
- dTiny, short-tailed manakin shape
- Voice
- A mechanical 'tik-tik-ting': two sharp clicks followed by a ringing, violin-like whine made by the wings.
- Not to be confused with
- Striped Manakin has a red crown but a red-streaked belly and no chestnut body. Other manakins in its range lack the chestnut-and-red male plumage.
- Where to see it
- Mindo and Milpe Bird Sanctuary in north-western Ecuador; Chocó foothill reserves in Colombia.
- When
- Resident year-round
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Life & habits
- Diet
- Small fruits and insects
- Habitat
- Understorey and mid-levels of humid foothill and subtropical forest
- Size
- About 9.5 cm
Males display on perches within earshot of each other, flicking their wings above the back to make the sound.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Western slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador (the Chocó region)
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Machaeropterus deliciosus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Curiosity
Its wing sound was first analysed with high-speed video, which showed the feathers vibrating faster than the bird can beat its wings.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 14347.