About Manacus aurantiacus (Salvin, 1870)
The orange-collared manakin (Manacus aurantiacus) is a compact, short-tailed bird, closely related to other manakins, that shares their characteristic heavy hooked bill. Individuals of this species are typically 10 cm long and weigh 15.5 g, and have orange legs. Males have brightly colored plumage: the adult male has a black crown, black wings, black tail, and a black band across the middle of its back. The rest of its head, neck, breast, and upper back are orange, its rump is olive-green, and its belly is bright yellow. The male's wings are heavily modified: the five outer primaries are very narrow for their outer half, while the inner primaries are thickened and bowed. This modified wing structure is only shared by males of the white-collared manakin and golden-collared manakin. The male orange-collared manakin produces a clear cheeuu call. Like other manakins, it uses its modified wings to make a loud snapping noise similar to a breaking twig, plus additional rustling and whiffling sounds. Females and young males are olive-green with a yellow belly. They are very similar in appearance to female white-collared manakins, but the two species do not share overlapping range. First-year males have a golden tinge on their breast.
This species occurs on the Pacific slope lowlands and foothills of tropical Central America, up to an elevation of 1100 m. It is replaced by the closely related white-collared manakin (M. candei) on the Caribbean slopes of Central America, and by the golden-collared manakin (Manacus vitellinus) east of its range, in northwestern Colombia. The golden-collared manakin was formerly considered a subspecies of the orange-collared manakin. Orange-collared manakins live in semi-open moist forest, tall secondary growth, shady plantations, and gardens.
Like other manakins, the orange-collared manakin carries out breeding displays at a communal lek. Each male clears a small patch of the forest floor, up to 120 cm across, down to bare earth. He leaps back and forth between thin upright bare sticks while producing a loud wing snap. When a female is present, multiple males jump together and cross each other above the cleared display court. Males also erect their throat feathers to form a beard during displays. The female builds a shallow cup nest 0.5 to 2.5 meters high in a horizontal tree fork, and lays two brown-speckled grey eggs in the nest. All nest building, incubation (which lasts 18 to 21 days), and care of the young is done by the female alone, as manakins do not form stable breeding pairs. Orange-collared manakins feed low in trees on fruit and some insects, plucking both types of food from foliage while in flight.
