Cotingas | Cotingidae

Cotinga's | Cotingas

Cotingas form a varied family of fruit-eating songbirds of tropical America. In the region the family is represented by one species, Bearded Bellbird, which lives on Trinidad in the forest of the hills and mountains. The male is largely white with a brown head and carries a cluster of black, string-like wattles on the throat; the female is olive green with yellowish, streaked underparts and is inconspicuous in foliage. The birds have a wide gape with which they swallow fairly large fruits whole; the seeds are later regurgitated or passed, so that they play a part in dispersing trees. The male calls from a fixed, high perch in the canopy with a very loud, metallic stroke and a series of ringing notes, which carry far through the forest and are usually the first sign of the species. The female alone builds the nest, a thin platform of twigs, and cares for the single egg and the chick. Identification is almost always by the call.