THE COURTSHIP DISPLAYS AND SOCIAL SYSTEM OF THE WHITE-RUFFED MANAKIN IN COSTA RICA

Abstract

We studied the relationship between group and individual display in the courtship and social system of the White-ruffed Manakin (Corapipo leucorrhoa altera) in the Atlantic slope foothills of Costa Rica. Between 20 April and 28 May 1989, we searched for display logs and conducted 358 h of observations focused on four display logs. We found logs owned by a single resident male in which activity was continuous, as well as logs and areas where displays were occasional. Six of the eight logs found in the study area were arranged in two clusters separated by about 300 m, although we also found a solitary log 200 m from the nearest active display site. The resident male was at his display site 40.7–93.7% of the time, mostly alone. Residents were visited by other males mainly before 08:00 and less frequently by females later in the day. Residents continually gave advertisement calls during the day and performed several visual displays, including an elaborate Flap-chee-wah in which the male would fly steeply upward from the display log to land explosively at high speed a few seconds later, instantly jumping while turning in the air to land facing the original landing point. Two of these displays culminated in copulations. Other common displays were a slow undulating Butterfly flight and Throat-flagging in which males slowly moved their heads, exposing the fully erected, contrasting white throat feathers. Males performed the displays alone, in the company of other males, or in the presence of females. We conclude that C. leucorrhoa displays in dispersed leks as found by other authors for C. gutturalis. Each log is owned by a single individual and the visits by other males may have a social function related to the establishment of a dominance hierarchy. We found important similarities between the two species of Corapipo and also with the genus Masius, which supports the proposed close relation between the two groups.