ABOUT
A large fan-like crest almost completely obscures the male rooster’s beak. The crest is formed by two rows of feathers meeting to form a semicircle. The female’s crest is slightly smaller. That’s not the only difference between men and women. In these two species, the male is clearly brighter than the female. Males are mainly dark orange in color. In Andean species, males have gray and black wing feathers and a black tail. The male Guianan has orange and black wings and tail, with long tassels on some of the orange feathers. The crest of the Guianan male has a darker border. In contrast, females are chestnut brown (in the Andeans) or smoky brown with a gray head (in the Guianans).
ENVIRONMENT AND DIET
The tropical forests of the Andes, from Venezuela to Bolivia, are home to the Andean rooster Rupicola peruvianus, which can be found at elevations of about 7,870 feet (2,400 meters). The Guianan Rupicola rupicola also lives in the humid forests of South America, but its distribution is more northerly, including parts of French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, northern Brazil and the west Colombia. The Guianan typically inhabits elevations below 3,940 feet (1,200 meters), although it can occasionally be found at elevations as high as 6,560 feet (2,000 meters). Both favor rocky canyons and ravines bordering rivers and streams. They pick fruit from trees and occasionally eat large insects, small reptiles, and frogs.
Males try their best to attract mates in a ritualistic communal courtship display called lek – a term derived from the Swedish word leka , which means “to play”. But make no mistake, this play is serious. By nature, lek is competitive and the presence of other males enhances natural lek behavior. Only males capable of attracting females have the opportunity to mate and pass on their genes to the next generation.
The large orange birds glared at each other, lowering their heads. One person croaked first – it sounded like a cross between a rooster crowing and a pig growling – and another person joined in. The boisterous confrontation that followed was a series of frenzied flapping, head-bobbing, bouncing, bowing and hopping. , and it became even more intense when a curious brown female approached. Occasionally, the birds stop. Then they started on another round.
Males establish and defend their personal space within sight and sound of each other, and that is where they display their enthusiastic displays. In Andean fighting cocks, 15 or more males gather on branches, each in his own area, and confront in pairs or small groups. Instead of displaying on perches, Guianan males – there are up to 50 of them – set up their own playground on the ground. Each male maintains and defends a position on the low branches overhead, and when the females appear, they all fly down to their yards, crouching and spreading their bright, frilly plumage. — each trying to make itself more irresistible than its neighbors.
Meanwhile, back in the burrow, the female makes a nest out of mud and palm fiber. She builds nests in caves or under overhangs, attached to a vertical rock face. It may take the female a month or more to get her nest just right. Typically, she will reuse her nest and replenish it each year. Only after the nest is complete does the female choose a mate.
The appearance of a woman at a festival signals “dance.” After watching, she chooses the mate she likes best, landing behind him to nibble on his fur or peck at his neck. Sometimes, the female has to really make an effort to attract the attention of the male. (Men can be so concerned with their own performance that they seem to forget why they are doing it!)
Finally, the chosen male stops being active long enough to jump around and mate with the female of interest. Then he returns to his spirited performance—in hopes of attracting another woman. Usually he does. Scientists have discovered that some males attract more mates than other males. At least part of their success comes from age and experience, something that begins even before they reach sexual maturity, when young men try to engage in erotica , usually at the edge.
After mating, the female returns to the nest, lays one or two eggs, and incubates them for about 28 days. The chicks hatch with sparse tufts of down growing out in all directions, making them look like little puppets. They weigh less than 0.8 ounces (24 grams) and are extremely altricial – meaning they are fairly undeveloped when first hatched and need their parents to feed and care for them for about 45 days. In these birds, only the mother bird takes care of the chicks. In addition to fruit, mother birds also carry baby insects, small reptiles and small frogs. She feeds the chick the entire prey, pushing it straight into the chick’s eager mouth.
