Bulletin 449 – Brazil 2025 #8 – Manakins,

  The Atlantic Forest is a unique ecosystem from sea level to about 1 mile elevation. It contains 800 species of birds (225 endemic) and 26 species of primates. Unfortunately it also contains 2 mega cities - Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and the resulting sprawl and clearing for agriculture since the Portuguese arrived 500 years ago, has wiped out 90%+ of the original forest. About 250 species of amphibians, birds and mammals have gone extinct in the past 400 years. The good news is that many preserves and parks have been set aside to try and preserve the remaining biodiversity. Many of the birds have wide distribution, but others are restricted to a tiny area of original forest usually above 2500 foot elevation. The Birds of Brazil guide book by Ber Van Perlo was published in 2009. He gives the chances of seeing the birds and many are listed as R - meaning rare with a negligible chance of finding them. However with the excellent guide (Alex Mesquita) and going point to point where the reported sightings have recently occurred, we saw many of them. We drove over 2000 miles in the 2 weeks to see as many of these rarities as well as the more common birds. I will indicate the R species.

In 2023 I visited the southern part of this area. In 2025 I visited the northern part. Some of the photos will be ones I had not sent for the 2023 trip.

Manakins are a small New World family of small songbirds. The males are usually brightly colored and the females a dull olive color.

The 4.3" Band-tailed Manakin (Pipra fasciicauda) has a yellow and red head and underparts with a black back, wings and tail.

Band-tailed Manakin - male

The 6” male Blue Manakin (Chiroxiphia caudata) has a blue body, black face and wings and a red crown.

Blue Manakin – male

The 5” female Pin-tailed Manakin (Ilicura militaris) is typical of female mankins – dull olive above and grey below.

Pin-tailed Manakin - female

 The Tyrant-Manakins are exceptions as both sexes are dull olive colored.

The 5” Wied’s Tyrant Manakin (Neopelma aurifrons) is olive and pale yellow.

Wied’s Tyrant-Manakin

The 5.5” Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin (Neoplema pallescens) is totally pale and non-descript.

Pale-bellied Tyrant-Manakin

The 3.5” male Kinglet Manakin (Machaeropterus regulus) is green above and reddish streaked below and a bright red crest.

Kinglet Manakin - male

The 5.5” male Helmeted Manakin (Antilophia galeata) is all black but with a red crest and upper back.

Helmeted Manakin - male

His cousin, the 6” male Araripe Manakin (Antilophia bokermanni) has a white body, black wings and tail and the same red crest. This bird was discovered in 1997.

Araripe Manakin - male

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 21 of the 55 species of  Manakins

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2026 David McDonald

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