Cock-of-the-Rock

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This is the fourth image of a passerine taken by this photographer.

Male Andean (red) Cock-of-the-rock, Rupicola peruvianus.

Image: John Del Rio. [larger view].

This dimorphic species is a medium-sized bird that is native to the cloud forests in the Andes Mountains in South America, being found in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. This species is frugivorous and the females choose their mates from among a group of males that display on a communal lek. The species gets its name from the females' habit of building their mud nests on rock walls.

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yes, the bird grows a crest of feathers that swoop forward and down over the bird's beak. rather wild, huh?