User:Saraangulo/sandbox

= Cock-of-the-rock Bird = Cock-of-the-rock (also known as “Rupicola”) is brilliantly colored bird of tropical South America. It is found in the most heavily forested mountain region. This exotic, South American bird is around 12 inches long with an orange head and dark feathers on the wings and tails (Cock-of-the-rock). Females tend to be a darker color which helps them protect their nest until the eggs crack. They are located mostly in Southern Venezuela, Eastern Colombia and Northern Brazil. Males are usually identified easier because they have flattened circular crests (Cock-of-the-rock). This type of bird comes from the Cotingidae bird family, which includes 90 different bird species around South America (Cock-of-the-rock). Each bird that belongs to the Cotingiade family gets its name depending on their voices and various food habits (Cock-of-the-rock).

Mating

Cock-of-the-rock birds are known for their unique way of mating. To catch females attention, they stay static within groups of males and they have a specific way of communicating their desire through movements of the eyes (Cock-of-the-rock). Females usually build nests in caves where their eggs will not get any type of light while they are in the process of growing (Cock-of-the-rock). Moreover, during mating season, these birds tend to include small reptiles in their diets and that makes them omnivorous, which is very rare in birds (Mahecha et. al). Females are the ones who chose who their partner will be. They are classified into groups depending on the number of males they mated with and the numbers of matings performed by each. The process of mating consists of females flying around different clusters of male birds, and deciding which one to mate with.

Nests

Like briefly mentioned before, nests tend to be built in caves so that eggs are well sheltered from bad weather and predators during their incubation time (D.W. Snow). The nests are built from mud and various plants and the female keeps fixing it on daily basis by bringing more mud and plants to secure the well being of the eggs until they crack (D.W. Snow). Sometimes males go and check on the eggs but it is usually the females that do so and the females help each other with checking the nests built around the area and not just their own (D.W. Snow). It must also be mentioned that eggs tend to vary in color depending on the time of the year they were laid ((D.W. Snow).