The Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
The Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruvianus) is one of the most spectacular and impressive birds in the world. Its combination of outrageous colours, noisy displaying tactics and specific habitat means that for bird-watchers visiting the region where it lives it is considered a ‘must-see’ species. Andean Cock-of-the-Rock breed on rocky crags and escarpments in undisturbed cloud forest across the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Such is the emblematic character of the species it is even the national bird of Peru.
Cock-of-the-Rock is also famed for its noisy leks and displays. Males congregate around set display areas known as leks, where they compete for females by fluffing their bright orange plumage and rocking back and forth, making a series squawks and calls. Females then select the best male, with one male often mating with multiple females. The displays, which can involve as many as up to thirty males, turn into a cacophony of bright colour and frenzied activity filled with very strange sounds – one of most phenomenal sights of the Andean cloud forest.
Simon Mitchell - GVI Amazon Field Staff
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