Andean Cock-of-the-rock Basics

Photo by San Diego Shooter

Andean Cock-of-the-rocks are a widespread species in South America. Their bright colors and showy mating behaviors have led them to stardom in local birding activities. They exhibit a dramatic sexual dimorphism. Males are bright orange with a round crest on their crowns and contrasting black underbody while females are a bright brown over their whole bodies and have a much smaller crest. This difference in color allows the females to be better camouflaged and the males to stand out in a lek.

Photo by Monroyfotografo on INaturalist

Lekking is a rare form of mating behavior. The males devote large amounts of energy into travelling to a communal area and performing elaborate display rituals while fending off rivals in order to attract females. The male competitors will perform in pairs or groups and put on a show that resembles a confrontational display. It includes a variety of jumping, flapping, and crowing. The males partake in this every morning near sunrise, but the females only come every few days. When they arrive, the fervor picks up even further until the females make their selection. The most successful males will mate with multiple females, who will then nest and raise her young on her own.

The Andean Cock-of-the-rock has a very large range and tends to be capable of persisting in widely deforestation areas due to favoring the most inaccessible steep ravines, so it is not considered threatened. However, as more trees are being cleared, population fragmentation occurs and the more inaccessible sites become the next to be cleared. This has led to recent, sharp declines in their numbers and habitat size.

Photo by Thomas Shahan 3

We are hoping to get a glimpse of these beautiful birds in person. For now, we'll just be daydreaming about our next chance to do research in the rainforest.