The pompadour cotinga (''Xipholena punicea'') is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. This species lives in the Amazonian rainforest and has a range that extends across the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

and includes

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and the

Guianas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British Guiana, British, Surinam (Dutch colo ...

. The pompadour cotinga is primarily a

frugivore A frugivore ( ) is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance ...

but has been known to consume insects on occasion. This species of cotinga is distinct in that the males have a burgundy head and body, bright white wings, and yellow eyes. Like other members of the Cotingidae, this species is

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

and the females have a pale grey head and body. Although there are not many documented observations of the nesting behavior of these birds, the males are known to perform elaborate mating displays for the females who then raise the young alone. Due to its arboreal habitat and generally remote distribution, behavior observations are rare. Pompadour cotinga coloration has been studied extensively, but little is known about the natural history of its behavior and existence in its habitat. Despite threats to Amazonian habitat in recent years, the pompadour cotinga remains a species of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

Taxonomy

The first documentation of the pompadour cotinga was in the 1764 auction catalogue of Dutch natural history collector Adriaan Vroeg which listed many species of birds and mammal specimens which were to be sold in glass cases. The catalogue included an appendix ''Adumbratiunculae'' by the Dutch naturalist

Peter Simon Pallas Peter Simon Pallas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussia, Prussian zoologist, botanist, Ethnography, ethnographer, Exploration, explorer, Geography, geographer, Geology, geologist, Natura ...

. This was written in Latin and used the

protonym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

''Turdus'' ''puniceus'' to describe the species. Birds of the family Cotingidae tend to share certain characteristics such as hooked beaks, strong sexual dimorphism, and mating displays performed by the males. The most recent

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

created in 2014 examined the family using genetic analyses of both nuclear and mitochondrial genes, and compared the results to the

synapomorphies In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to ...

among birds of certain clades. The breeding behavior and sexual dimorphism of certain species did not seem to be connected to the phylogenetic relationships that had been created from the genetic data. However, certain characteristics such as vocal activity did correlate with shared anatomical morphologies among certain clades and were used to support the genetic data. For instance, members of ''Xipholena'' ''punicea'' tend to be quieter than other members of Cotingidae and that behavior is shared with their sister taxa ''

Carpodectes ''Carpodectes'' is a genus of passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines general ...

''. This low vocal activity is likely reflected in the

syrinx In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx () was an Arcadian nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Being pursued by Pan, she fled into the river Ladon, and at her own request was metamorphosed into a reed from which Pan then mad ...

morphology of both species of birds. In addition to this characteristic, these genera share physical similarities such as the bright white wings which are displayed as the male birds fly through the treetops.

Description

Individuals of ''Xipholena punicea'' are sexually dimorphic, with males displaying bright, complex colorization and females appearing more pale and grey. Males of this species have yellow eyes, stark white primary coverts with black wing tips, and a glossy, wine-red head and body. The distinguished burgundy color of the male individuals was previously thought to be a combination of "blue structural color and red carotenoid," but recent experimentation has shown that this species of Cotingidae does not utilize

structural coloration Structural coloration in animals, and a few plants, is the production of colour by microscopically structured surfaces fine enough to interfere with visible light instead of Biological pigment, pigments, although some structural coloration occu ...

. This distinct colorization consists of pigments from eight different

carotenoid Carotenoids () are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, corn, tomatoes, cana ...

s, six of which are unique to the ''Xipholena punicea'' species itself. These six pigments were found to be "ring-substituted, methoxy carotenoids" and were likely formed through chemical reactions of other dietary carotenoids. These species-specific carotenoids are significant in the study of ''Xipholena punicea'' because other species of birds are not known to use the same pathways for carotenoid construction that are used by the pompadour cotinga. Additionally, the complexity of the creation of these pigments allows for an added diversity in the carotenoid products themselves and further distinguishes ''X. punicea'' from other members of the genus. Both male and female pompadour cotinga have a "short beak and wide gape". This trait is shared by other members of the family Cotingidae and is indicative of a frugivorous diet. Eggs of this species are not well documented, but have been described as bluish-grey and blotched. In addition, chicks undergo a change from white to a blotched-grey color, possibly serving as a form of

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

in the nest.

Distribution and habitat

Members of the ''X. punicea'' occupy the

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

layer of rainforests across South America, including regions in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Guianas. In the Northern Peruvian Amazon, they live in the ''varillal'' (white

sand forest A sand forest is a type of rare subtropical forest region, distinctive due to its unique combination of plant (often rare plant) and animal species, and their restriction to ancient coastal dunes. Sand forests are found in Maputaland in South Afr ...

) regions and forage in groups in the ''Caraipa tereticaulis'' trees along the

Nanay River The Nanay River is a river in northern Peru. It is a tributary of the Amazon River, merging into this river at the city of Iquitos. The lower part of the Nanay flows to the north and west of the city, while the Itaya River flows to the south a ...

. Pompadour cotingas generally live in areas of thick vegetation and white, sandy soil which has been darkened and acidified by the decomposition of vegetative material. There have also been rare sightings of possible

vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and eastern

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

outside of their established range.

Behavior

Diet

The pompadour cotinga is primarily a frugivore, but it consumes insects opportunistically. Members of the species forage in small groupings, and use frequent vocalizations of a “PURP!” noise to communicate with one another. Captive pompadour cotingas have been observed occasionally consuming larger prey. One particular species account described a male pompadour cotinga grabbing an

anole Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles (singular anole ) and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay. Instead of treating it as a family, some authorities prefer to treat ...

and hitting it on a perch before beginning to eat it. Pompadour cotingas may supplement their frugivorous diet with meat during the breeding season when there is increased energy expenditure and young birds to feed.

Reproduction

There are limited observations of the pompadour cotinga in the wild, with most accounts documenting the complex mating ritual of the species although the exact breeding season is unknown. Males flock in small groups to areas where a female has been spotted constructing a nest. The males then participate in “ritualized chasing,” which possibly communicates an order of dominance among the males to the female. As each male flies to a perch occupied by another male to steal their place, they flash their bright white wings over the area where the female watches below. These mating displays tend to be silent on behalf of the males, yet there is a slight noise emanating from the movement of the wings. A pair is formed shortly after breeding, but this relationship is short-lived and abandoned once nesting begins.

Parental Care

Documentation of parental care in the pompadour cotinga is rare, but it is known that the species is

polygynous Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...

and that females are the primary caregiver for the young offspring. Additionally, there is usually only one egg per nest. In an account by

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

Marcelo Barreiros, the female pompadour cotinga was very attentive to the single egg in the shallow nest that she had built for it, leaving only to forage for food. Once the chick hatched a few days later, the mother spent the majority of the observational period attempting to shield the young chick from the sun. The mother of the chick also fed it berries and ate the feces of the young chick.

Relationship with humans

The most recent information on the

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

of ''Xipholena punicea'' is from an evaluation conducted in August 2018 and has placed the species as of least concern. However, the

destruction of the Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, spanning an area of 3,000,000 km2 (1,200,000 sq mi), is the world's largest rainforest. It encompasses the largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest on the planet, representing over half of all rainforests. The ...

has interfered with the habitat of these birds and the species is “suspected to lose 11.5-12.6% of suitable habitat… over three generations,” with the population decreasing in suit. Luckily, there is a protection of land and water across the entirety of the habitat but the species itself is not included in any international legislation enforcing protection and there is no plan in place to deal with species recovery in the event of disaster. Research involving the pompadour cotinga has been difficult because it lives high in the rainforest and is normally concealed from view. In recent years, there has been advocation for improved methods of data collection in the rainforest with one researcher, Bruno Walther, proposing the use of cranes in the field to increase access to the canopy level. Despite the hindrance to observational studies, there is a benefit to living in the canopy. Canopy birds were found to be present in disturbed habitats at higher rates than species who occupy lower levels of the forest. This is likely due to their unique ability to leave regions of disaster and low resources more easily than other species.