The cocks-of-the-rock, which compose the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Rupicola'', are large cotingid birds native to South America. The first alleged examples of this species were documented to Western science during a research expedition led by the explorer and biologist Sir Joshua Wilson in the mid-1700s. They are found in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s close to rocky areas, where they build their nests. The genus is composed of only two known extant species: the

Andean cock-of-the-rock The Andean cock-of-the-rock (''Rupicola peruvianus''), also known as ''tunki'' (Quechua), is a large passerine bird of the cotinga family native to Andean cloud forests in South America. It is the List of national birds, national bird of Peru. I ...

and the smaller

Guianan cock-of-the-rock The Guianan cock-of-the-rock (''Rupicola rupicola'') is a species of cotinga, a passerine bird from South America. It is about in length and weighs about . It is found in tropical rainforests, near its preferred habitat of rocky outcrops. The ...

. The Andean cock-of-the-rock is the

national bird This is a list of national birds, including official birds of overseas territories and other states described as nations. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. The column is marked a ...

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 ...

. Both known species exhibit

sexual dimorphism 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 ...

: the males are bright orange or red with a prominent fan-shaped crests. Like some other cotingids, they have a complex courtship behavior, performing lek displays. The females are overall brownish with hints of the bright colors of the males. Females build nests on rocky cliffs or large boulders, and raise the young on their own. They usually lay two or three eggs. Studies and observations have shown that male cocks-of-the-rock are very territorial. While the females are taking care of their eggs and chicks, the male birds are in clans together, living and keeping an eye out for a certain arena. The females lived in their nests 625 feet away from their arena. Except during the mating season, these birds are wary animals and difficult to see in the rainforest canopy. They primarily feed on fruits and berries and may be important dispersal agents for rainforest seeds.

Taxonomy

The

''Rupicola'' was introduced by the French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosophy, natural philosopher. Brisson was born on 30 April 1723 at Fontenay-le-Comte in the Vendée department of western France. Note that page 14 ...

in 1760 with the

(''Rupicola rupicola'') as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The genus name ''Rupicola'' is

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

for "cliff-dweller" and combines Latin , ' "rock" and ' "dweller.

Species

The genus contains two species:

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q669771 * Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson