Bird
Golden-headed Manakin
Ceratopipra erythrocephala
Photo: Dominic Sherony (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Golden-headed Manakin is one of the most visually striking small birds of Trinidad's forest interior, the male a jewel-like combination of jet black plumage and a blazing golden-orange head, with red-and-white legs that flash during courtship. Like its close relative the White-bearded Manakin, males gather at forest leks where they perform some of the most acrobatic and rapid display flights in the bird world, darting between perches, sliding backwards along branches, and producing sharp mechanical wing snaps to attract visiting females.
Identification
The Golden-headed Manakin is 9 to 10 cm long, one of T&T's smallest birds. Adult males are jet black on the body with a vivid golden-orange head, red thighs, and white inner thighs that are flashed during display. The bill is short and broad. Females are uniformly olive-green and closely resemble female White-bearded Manakins; the two species are best separated by the Golden-headed's slightly smaller size and different lek behaviour. Immature males transition through a series of intermediate plumages before gaining full adult coloration.
Lek Display
Males display at leks of 2 to 12 males on traditional perches in the forest understorey, typically on horizontal branches 2 to 8 m above the ground. The display includes rapid slides backward along a perch, a fast forward shuffle, wing snaps produced by modified flight feathers, and short explosive flights between perches that can reach speeds that blur the bird's motion. The red-and-white thighs are prominently displayed during some postures. As with other manakins, the female alone builds the nest, incubates, and raises the chicks; males invest entirely in display.
Status in T&T
The Golden-headed Manakin is found throughout Trinidad in forest interior and shaded advanced secondary forest, from the Northern Range to the central and southern forests. It is absent from Tobago. The species is fully protected under the Conservation of Wild Life Act and is not a game species. Lek sites in the Northern Range are regularly visited by birdwatchers from around the world, contributing to ecotourism revenue that supports forest conservation advocacy.
Threats
- Forest loss and fragmentation
- Lek site disturbance