The snowy cotinga (''Carpodectes nitidus'') is a medium-sized species 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 are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in Central America where 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 ...

s are subtropical or 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 and heavily degraded former forests. The male is white and the female pale grey and both sexes are readily recognisable.

Description

The adult snowy cotinga is about long and is a plump bird with a smallish head. The male is very conspicuous and is entirely white, apart from a slight bluish-grey tinge on head and back. The upper parts of the female are pale brownish-grey with slightly darker wings bordered with white. There is a white ring round the eye and the underparts are greyish-white. In both sexes the beak is bluish-grey, and this distinguishes the birds from the otherwise similar

yellow-billed cotinga The yellow-billed cotinga (''Carpodectes antoniae'') is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in the Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical ...

(''Carpodectes antoniae''). The female might also be confused with the

black-crowned tityra The black-crowned tityra (''Tityra inquisitor'') is a medium-sized passerine bird. It has traditionally been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher family, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae. It is found in A ...

(''Tityra inquisitor'') or the

masked tityra The masked tityra (''Tityra semifasciata'') is a medium-sized passerine bird. It has traditionally been placed in the cotinga or the tyrant flycatcher family, but evidence strongly suggests that it is better placed in Tityridae, where it is now p ...

(''Tityra semifasciata'') but those species both have more colour on the head.

Distribution and habitat

The snowy cotinga is native to lowland humid forests of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. It is present on the coastal plains and in low hills to an altitude of about , being found in the canopy, along the edges of woodland, and in nearby areas with isolated large trees.

Status

Though generally an uncommon species, the snowy cotinga has a wide range and any decline in total population is slight. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

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

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q902008 snowy cotinga Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica snowy cotinga snowy cotinga Taxonomy articles created by Polbot