The cotingas are a large family, Cotingidae, of suboscine passerine birds found in Central America and tropical South America. Cotingas are birds of forests or forest edges, that are primary frugivorous. They all have broad bills with hooked tips, rounded wings, and strong legs. They range in size from of the fiery-throated fruiteater (Pipreola chlorolepidota) up to of the Amazonian umbrellabird (Cephalopterus ornatus).

Description

Cotingas vary widely in social structure. There is a roughly 50/50 divide in the family between species with biparental care, and those in which the males play no part in raising the young. The purple-throated fruitcrow lives in mixed-sex groups in which one female lays an egg and the others help provide insects to the chick.

The females of both lekking and biparental species are duller than the males.

Breeding

Nests range from tiny to very large. Many species lay a single egg in a nest so flimsy that the egg can be seen from underneath. This may make the nests hard for predators to find. Fruiteaters build more solid cup nests, and the cocks-of-the-rock attach their mud nests to cliffs.

Taxonomy and systematics

The family Cotingidae was introduced by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1849.<!--Bock gives Bonaparte's title as "Conspectus systematis ornithologiae. Editio altera reformata additis synonymis Grayanis" 1849. This doesn't appear to be available on the web. It is discussed at https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=316935&page=3 There is what appears to be an 1851 reprint: Bonaparte CL. 1851. Conspectus systematis ornithologiae. Editio altera reformata additis synonymis Grayanis. Nuov. Ann. Sci. Nat. (ser. 3) 3:480-482; 4:196-206. available at: https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9363469 --> According to the International Ornithological Committee, as of July 2021, the family contains 66 species divided into 24 genera.

A 2014 molecular phylogenetic study of the cotingas by Jacob Berv and Richard Prum found that the genera formed five monophyletic clades and they proposed that the family could be divided into five subfamilies. The following cladogram is based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the suboscines by Michael Harvey and collaborators published in 2020.

The genus Tijuca was found to be embedded in Lipaugus, a position that was confirmed by a more detailed 2020 study.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Image !! Genus !! Living species

|-

|175px || Ampelioides ||

  • Scaled fruiteater, Ampelioides tschudii

|-

|175px || Pipreola ||

  • Fiery-throated fruiteater, Pipreola chlorolepidota
  • Scarlet-breasted fruiteater, Pipreola frontalis
  • Handsome fruiteater, Pipreola formosa
  • Red-banded fruiteater, Pipreola whitelyi
  • Black-chested fruiteater, Pipreola lubomirskii
  • Orange-breasted fruiteater, Pipreola jucunda
  • Masked fruiteater, Pipreola pulchra
  • Golden-breasted fruiteater, Pipreola aureopectus
  • Barred fruiteater, Pipreola arcuata
  • Band-tailed fruiteater, Pipreola intermedia
  • Green-and-black fruiteater, Pipreola riefferii

|-

|175px || Snowornis ||

  • Grey-tailed piha, Snowornis subalaris
  • Olivaceous piha, Snowornis cryptolophus

|-

|175px || Carpornis ||

  • Hooded berryeater, Carpornis cucullata
  • Black-headed berryeater, Carpornis melanocephala

|-

|175px ||Rupicola ||

  • Andean cock-of-the-rock, Rupicola peruvianus
  • Guianan cock-of-the-rock, Rupicola rupicola

|-

|175px || Phoenicircus ||

  • Guianan red cotinga, Phoenicircus carnifex
  • Black-necked red cotinga, Phoenicircus nigricollis

|-

|175px || Zaratornis ||

  • White-cheeked cotinga, Zaratornis stresemanni

|-

|175px || Phytotoma ||

  • Rufous-tailed plantcutter or Chilean plantcutter, Phytotoma rara
  • Peruvian plantcutter, Phytotoma raimondii
  • White-tipped plantcutter or reddish plantcutter, Phytotoma rutila

|-

|175px ||Phibalura ||

  • Swallow-tailed cotinga, Phibalura flavirostris

|-

|175px|| Doliornis ||

  • Bay-vented cotinga, Doliornis sclateri
  • Chestnut-bellied cotinga, Doliornis remseni

|-

|175px ||Ampelion ||

  • Red-crested cotinga, Ampelion rubrocristatus
  • Chestnut-crested cotinga, Ampelion rufaxilla

|-

| || Haematoderus ||

  • Crimson fruitcrow, Haematoderus militaris

|-

|175px ||Querula ||

  • Purple-throated fruitcrow, Querula purpurata

|-

|175px || Pyroderus ||

  • Red-ruffed fruitcrow, Pyroderus scutatus

|-

|175px || Cephalopterus ||

  • Bare-necked umbrellabird, Cephalopterus glabricollis
  • Long-wattled umbrellabird, Cephalopterus penduliger
  • Amazonian umbrellabird, Cephalopterus ornatus

|-

|175px || Perissocephalus ||

  • Capuchinbird, Perissocephalus tricolor

|-

|175px || Lipaugus ||

  • Rufous piha, Lipaugus unirufus
  • Cinnamon-vented piha, Lipaugus lanioides
  • Rose-collared piha, Lipaugus streptophorus
  • Screaming piha, Lipaugus vociferans
  • Dusky piha, Lipaugus fuscocinereus
  • Scimitar-winged piha, Lipaugus uropygialis
  • Chestnut-capped piha, Lipaugus weberi
  • Black-and-gold cotinga, Lipaugus ater
  • Grey-winged cotinga, Lipaugus conditus

|-

|175px ||Procnias ||

  • White bellbird, Procnias albus
  • Three-wattled bellbird, Procnias tricarunculatus
  • Bare-throated bellbird, Procnias nudicollis
  • Bearded bellbird, Procnias averano

|-

|175px || Cotinga ||

  • Plum-throated cotinga, Cotinga maynana
  • Spangled cotinga, Cotinga cayana
  • Lovely cotinga, Cotinga amabilis
  • Blue cotinga, Cotinga nattererii
  • Turquoise cotinga, Cotinga ridgwayi
  • Banded cotinga, Cotinga maculata
  • Purple-breasted cotinga, Cotinga cotinga

|-

|175px || Porphyrolaema ||

  • Purple-throated cotinga, Porphyrolaema porphyrolaema

|-

|175px || Conioptilon ||

  • Black-faced cotinga, Conioptilon mcilhennyi

|-

|175px || Gymnoderus ||

  • Bare-necked fruitcrow, Gymnoderus foetidus

|-

|175px || Xipholena ||

  • Pompadour cotinga, Xipholena punicea
  • White-tailed cotinga, Xipholena lamellipennis
  • White-winged cotinga, Xipholena atropurpurea

|-

|175px || Carpodectes ||

  • Black-tipped cotinga, Carpodectes hopkei
  • Yellow-billed cotinga, Carpodectes antoniae
  • Snowy cotinga, Carpodectes nitidus

|-

|}

A number of species previously placed in this family are now placed in the family Tityridae (genera Laniisoma, Laniocera and Iodopleura)

References

Further reading

  • Snow, D.W. (1976). "The relationship between climate and annual cycles in the Cotingidae." Ibis 118(3):366-401
  • Snow, D.W. (1982). The Cotingas: Bellbirds, Umbrella birds and their allies. British Museum Press.
  • Cotinga videos on the Internet Bird Collection