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A club-winged manakin lifts its wings to make music.
Machaeropterus deliciosus
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Crouching in the dense bush of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in Ecuador, Cornell University ornithologist Kim Bostwick listens, watches, and waits for a striped manakin.
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A male club-winged manakin in the Milpe Bird Sanctuary, with his characteristic red thatch, has just attracted a female with his sound and now hopes to seal the deal.
Machaeropterus deliciosus
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The manakins featured in this and the following three photos, photographed in a tropical Ecuadorian forest, aren't capable of their club-winged cousin's musicality. These close relatives are being studied by ornithologist Kim Bostwick in the hope that they may reveal intermediate evolutionary steps that led to the club-winged's virtuosity. Above, the wire-tailed manakin—note the spiky tail feathers—courts a female.
Pipra filicauda
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The striped manakin has enlarged secondary feathers like the club-winged but makes only a simple buzzing sound with its wings.
Machaeropterus regulus
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The blue-crowned manakin doesn't produce any wing sounds.
Lepidothrix coronata
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The golden-headed manakin moves its wings like the club-winged manakin but does so silently.
Pipra erythrocephala
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