The banded cotinga (''Cotinga maculata'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family Cotingidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to southeastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

as its population is estimated to number between 250 and 999 mature individuals.

Description

Birds are around 20 cm long, and males are a bright blue with a black spotted back. The throat and belly are bright purple with a blue band across the chest. Females are a dull brown with some white mottling. The

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

are modified to produce a slight whir during display.

Distribution

The majority of the species is concentrated in the state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest ...

, with occasional records from the nearby state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

. It most likely once occurred in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

and

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist att ...

, but has since been extirpated.

Ecology and behavior

It inhabits the canopy of the lowland

Atlantic forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and t ...

, and has a diet of seeds, berries, especially from '' Byrsonima sericea'' and ficuses, fruit, caterpillars, and other insects. It shares its habitat with other endemic birds, such as the

saffron toucanet The saffron toucanet (''Pteroglossus bailloni'') is a species of bird in the family Ramphastidae found in the Atlantic Forest in far north-eastern Argentina, south-eastern Brazil, and eastern Paraguay. Taxonomy and systematics This species' scie ...

and

pin-tailed manakin The pin-tailed manakin (''Ilicura militaris'') is a suboscine species of bird within the manakin family, Pipridae. This species is endemic to the Eastern coast of Brazil within the humid Atlantic Forest, and its range extends from the State of ...

. The banded cotinga is not migratory and its nest is a simple cup.

Conservation

The greatest threat to the banded cotinga's survival is deforestation. Continued

habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological proces ...

has also complicated matters, sending populations into a sharp decline. Some protected areas, such as the

RPPN Estação Veracel RPPN may refer to: * Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural, a type of protected area in Brazil ** RPPN da Unisc, Santa Cruz do Sul University Private Natural Heritage Reserve * Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal * Rancudo Airfield (IATA code: ...

and

Reserva Serra Bonita Reserve wine is wine of a higher quality than usual, a wine that has been aged before sale, or both. Traditionally, winemakers would reserve some of their best wine rather than sell it immediately, coining the term. In some countries the use of t ...

, are now thought to serve as bastions for this species.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
banded cotinga Birds of the Atlantic Forest Endemic birds of Brazil banded cotinga Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cotingidae-stub