Micro Post: Cock-of-the-rock

The prominent fan-shaped crest on cock-of-the-rock.

What kind of name, anyway this bird cock-of-the-rock absolutely the bird that going to catches the attention on anyone. They live in tropical and sub tropical rainforest close to the rocky areas, where they build their nest. They are two main species of this bird; the Andean cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus) and the smaller Guianan cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola rupicola).

The Guianan cock-of-the-rock live in the lowland forest in the South America’s north-east, while the Andean or Peruvian live in the higher Andes gorges. The Andean cock-of-the-rock also became the national bird of Peru.

The Guianan cock-of-the-rock.

The Andean cock-of-the-rock.

Both species has exhibit sexual dimorphism in term of bright colours and also their prominent fan-shaped crests. They also perform lek displays as part of their complex courtship behaviour in order to get an attention of the overall brownish females. Their nest will be build on the rocky cliffs or large boulders, and raise the young on their own. Usually there will be two eggs in their nest that is built out of plant fibres and saliva. The incubation period will be around 23 ~ 28 days.

Group of males for their lek.

The female.

Female in their nest.

It is not easy to locating this bird in the forest canopy as it is very shy unless during their mating season. With their primary source of food are fruits and berries, they are also important as dispersal agents for rainforest seeds.