Main content

Andean Cock-of-the-Rock

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the Andean cock-of-the-rock from Peru.

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the Andean Cock-of-the-rock from Peru. Deep in a cloud forest a female awaits the display of her displaying males. Gathered in front of her several head-bobbing wing-waving males, these males are spectacularly dazzling; a vibrant orange head and body, with black wings and tails, yellow staring eyes, and ostentatious fan-shaped crests which can almost obscure their beaks. Male cock-of-the rocks gather at communal leks, and their performances include jumping between branches and bowing at each other whilst all the time calling loudly. Yet, for all the males' prancing and posturing, it is the female who's in control. Aware that the most dominant and fittest males will be nearest the centre of the lekking arena, it's here that she focuses her attention.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

Available now

2 minutes

Last on

Fri 2 Feb 2024 05:58

Clip

Andean Cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus)

Webpage image courtesy of Ben Lascelles / naturepl.com.

Β© Ben Lascelles / naturepl.com.

Recording of Andean Cock-of-the-rock by Theodore A Parker, III / Ref: ML 31883

This programme contains a wildtrack Β kindly provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; recorded by Theodore A Parker, III; on 8 Jul 1983, in HuΓ΅nuco, Peru.

Broadcasts

  • Tue 7 Oct 2014 05:58
  • Mon 21 Sep 2015 05:58
  • Sun 27 Sep 2015 08:58
  • Thu 15 Dec 2016 05:58
  • Wed 9 May 2018 05:58
  • Sun 17 Nov 2019 08:58
  • Sun 7 Feb 2021 08:58
  • Fri 16 Jul 2021 05:58
  • Wed 4 May 2022 05:58
  • Fri 2 Feb 2024 05:58

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Exploring all things puffin - the silly and the serious, the scientific and the cultural.

Try this new podcast

Five stories of birds and birdsong are told by the people inspired by them.

Podcast