Cotinga cayana
The Spangled Cotinga, Cotinga cayana, is a breathtaking jewel of the Neotropical rainforests, renowned for the male's dazzling plumage. Males are spectacularly iridescent, a brilliant cerulean blue across the body, highlighted by a vivid purplish-magenta throat patch, contrasting sharply with their deep black wings and tail. Females, in stark sexual dimorphism, are a much more subdued brownish-gray with dusky mottling on the underparts, providing excellent camouflage against predators. This m...
Primarily inhabits the canopy and sub-canopy of humid tropical lowland rainforests, occasionally found in forest edges and clearings with tall emergent trees, typically below 500 meters (1,640 feet) in elevation.
Almost exclusively frugivorous, feeding on a wide variety of small to medium-sized fruits, particularly berries and arillate seeds; occasionally supplements its diet with small insects.
This diurnal species spends much of its time perched high in the canopy, often motionless for extended periods, making it surprisingly difficult to spot despite the male's vibrant colors. As a specialized frugivore, it primarily plucks fruits from branches while perched or in short, acrobatic sal...
The Spangled Cotinga is a resident species with an extensive distribution across the Amazon Basin and the Guianas. Its range encompasses eastern Colombia, southern and eastern Venezuela, all three Guianas (Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana), and extends broadly across much of Amazonian Brazil. ...
Least Concern
- The male Spangled Cotinga is one of the most stunningly colored birds in the Amazon, yet is notoriously difficult to spot due to its habit of perching motionless high in the canopy. - Its name "cotinga" is derived from the Tupi indigenous language of Brazil. - Males attract females through "lek...