Foraging Behavior and Diet of the Helmeted Manakin

Abstract

I studied the foraging behavior and diet of the Helmeted Manakin (Antilophia galeata) in the gallery forests in the cerrado (savanna) region of central Brazil. Observations of 21 color-marked birds were made from April 1988 to March 1989 on a 2.5-ha study plot in a gallery forest. They showed that Helmeted Manakins are highly frugivorous (85.7% of foraging observations were on fruits; all stomach contents analyzed had fruits while arthropods were present in only 24.5%; and 96.2% of the fecal masses collected under a nest had fruits while 6 1.5% had arthropods); and take fruit mostly (46.5% of the observations) while in flight (sallies). Helmeted Manakins ate fruits of 17 species of 12 families of plants, as well as arthropods such as Araneae, Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. One to six Helmeted Manakins attended 63.6% of the mixed-species flocks observed. Green birds (females and immature males) foraged at lower heights (6.5 * 4.6 m) than adult and subadult males, which foraged at a height (8.2 f 4.4 m) closer to where they sang (10.2 + 3.8 m) or called (8.4 f 4.8 m). The Helmeted Manakin showed similarities to other manakins in the diet and foraging tactics used, even though it may not be promiscuous (Marini and Cavalcanti, in prep.) and has an unique geographical distribution among dichromatic manakins.