The lovely cotinga (''Cotinga amabilis'') is a species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
in the family
Cotingidae. It is found in
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
Central America
Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
from southern
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
through
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
,
Belize
Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...
,
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
and
Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
to
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
with reports from western
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
. Its natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...
s are tropical moist lowland
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s and heavily degraded former forest. The male is a bright turquoise blue while the female is greyish-brown with pale underparts. Because of its total population size and wide
range
Range may refer to:
Geography
* Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra)
** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands
* Range, a term used to i ...
, this species is not yet considered
vulnerable.
''Cotinga amibalis''
Birdlife International The bird is mentioned in the Florentine Codex.
Description
left, Cotinga amabilis Museum de Genève
The lovely cotinga has an adult length of about . It has a small, rounded head, a plump body and short tail. The male is a brilliant turquoise blue and closely resembles the blue cotinga
The blue cotinga (''Cotinga nattererii'') is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in Colombia, north-west Ecuador, eastern to western Panama and western Venezuela in tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former fo ...
(''Cotinga nattererii''). It lacks the black eye-ring of that species, and has a more purple bib and a much larger patch of purple on the breast. The flight feathers are black with broad blue edges. The upper tail-coverts are blue, and are so long that it is difficult to see the black tail feathers. The female also resembles the blue cotinga female; its upper parts are greyish-brown with white scalloping, and its pale underparts are mottled and spotted with grey rather than having the scaly appearance of the female blue cotinga.[
]
Distribution and habitat
This species is found in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize. It is a denizen of humid forests and woodland edges, feeding on fruit high in the canopy.[
]
Status
''Cotinga amabilis'' has a very wide range but is a somewhat uncommon species. Partners in Flight Partners in Flight / Compañeros en Vuelo / Partenaires d’Envol is an organization launched in 1990 in response to growing concerns about declines in the populations of many land bird species, and to emphasize the conservation of birds not covered ...
has estimated that the total population is in the range of 20,000 to 49,999 mature individuals. Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be downwards, the International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
has rated the bird as being 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 ...
" because it is not believed to be declining sufficiently rapidly to warrant placing it in a more threatened category.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Photo
{{taxonbar, from=Q578180
cotinga, lovely
category:birds of Central America
category:birds of Mexico
category:Cotinga (genus)
category:least concern biota of North America
category:taxonomy articles created by Polbot