Long-tailed Manakin

The Long-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia linearis) is a species of bird in the Pipridae family. It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.

The manakin species are very interesting in their family life. Long-tailed Manakin males form a long-term partnership duo or trio. Together they sing in synchrony and, for any female who is attracted by their singing, perform a complex coordinated courtship dance. If she mates, only the alpha male inseminates her. Among many displaying male partnerships in a locality (a dispersed lek), only one or a very few males may account for the vast majority of matings in a given breeding season. As in other lekking species, the female then builds the nest and raises the young without involvement by males.