Pale-winged trumpeter

Pale-winged trumpeter
near Puerto Maldonado, Peru
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Psophiidae
Genus: Psophia
Species:
P. leucoptera
Binomial name
Psophia leucoptera
Spix, 1825

The pale-winged trumpeter (Psophia leucoptera), also known as the white-winged trumpeter, is a Near Threatened species of bird in the family Psophiidae. It is found in the western Amazon rainforest of Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru.[2][3][1]

Taxonomy and systematics

Major taxonomic systems treat the pale-winged trumpeter as monotypic. However, some authors treat the "ochre-winged" trumpeter as a subspecies of it; the major taxonomies treat that taxon as a subspecies of grey-winged trumpeter (P. crepitans) or as a separate species.[2][4][5][6][7]

Description

The pale-winged trumpeter is a chicken-like bird with a long neck and legs and a hump-backed profile. It is 45 to 52 centimetres (18 to 20 in) long. Males weigh 1.28 to 1.44 kg (2.8 to 3.2 lb) and females 1.18 to 1.32 kg (2.6 to 2.9 lb). The sexes are similar in appearance. Their stout, slightly decurved, bill is grayish with a yellow base and their legs and feet are pale grayish. They are almost entirely black, with a white hindwing and purple, green, and bronze iridescence on the outer wing coverts.[8]

Distribution and habitat

The pale-winged trumpeter is found in the upper Amazon Basin of eastern Peru, northern and central Bolivia, and central-western Brazil south of the Amazon and west of the Rio Madeira. A single record in extreme southeastern Colombia has not been accepted by the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society.[8][9][3] The species inhabits dense lowland tropical rainforest. Within that broad category it favors landscapes away from human habitations. In elevation it ranges up to 750 m (2,500 ft).

Behavior

Movement

The pale-winged trumpeter is entirely non-migratory and tends to move only within the flock's territory.[8]

Feeding

The pale-winged trumpeter is primarily frugivorous. It forages on the forest floor for fallen ripe fruit which makes up 90% of its diet. The remainder of its diet is invertebrates like beetles and ants and occasionally small vertebrates like snakes.[10][8]

Breeding

The reproductive behavior of the pale-winged trumpeter is the best known of all the trumpeters'. They are polyandrous and cooperative breeders, and groups of adults defend a territory together. Groups have a dominant pair who are the only pair to lay a clutch. While subordinate males do mate with the dominant female, this occurs when the dominant female is not fertile. When the dominant female is fertile, the dominant male will aggressively prevent other males from mating with her. Their breeding season begins at the end of the dry season and continues throughout the rainy season, typically between September and April. The female will lay her clutch in a shallow tree cavity that is an average of 11 meters off the ground and free of vines or other vegetation to avoid the risk of nest predation. The clutch size is two to four eggs but usually three. The incubation period is 23 to 29 days with the dominant male and female taking turns to incubate, and subordinate males also contribute to incubation. The young hatch covered with thick, dark, cryptically patterned down. The day after hatching, chicks jump down to the ground and follow the adults.[10][8]

Cleaning symbiosis

Pale-winged trumpeters have cleaning symbiosis, a form of mutualism, with ungulate species like the gray brocket deer as they are ectoparasite removers. Trumpeter groups will occasionally follow ungulates around pecking to remove ticks, and also have been observed snatching other pests like flies that are swarming the ungulate. This cleaning symbiosis provides nutritional benefit for pale-winged trumpeters as well as reduces the risk of ectoparasite disease vectors for the ungulate.[11]

Dickcissel male perched on a metal pole singing, with neck stretched and beak open.

Songs and calls
Listen to pale-winged trumpeter on xeno-canto

Vocalization

All trumpeters are highly vocal. The pale-winged trumpeter's song is a low pitched "wuh-wuh-wuh wuh wuh - -". Its alarm call is "loud, harsh 'KRETCH' notes".[8][12]

Status

The IUCN originally assessed the pale-winged trumpeter as being of Least Concern but since 2014 has rated it as Near Threatened. "The primary threat to this species is accelerating deforestation in the Amazon Basin". In addition, "Hunting appears to be a significant threat across the range of the species".[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c BirdLife International (2016). "White-winged Trumpeter Psophia leucoptera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22692199A95216813. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22692199A95216813.en. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Flufftails, finfoots, rails, trumpeters, cranes, limpkin". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022
  4. ^ Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022
  5. ^ Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022
  6. ^ HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022
  7. ^ Ribas, C.C.; Aleixo, A.; Nogueira, A.C.R.; Miyaki, C.Y.; Cracraft, J. (2011). "A palaeobiogeographic model for biotic diversification within Amazonia over the past three million years". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279 (1729): 681–689. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1120. PMC 3248724. PMID 21795268.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Sherman, P.T., P. F. D. Boesman, C. J. Sharpe, and D. A. Christie (2020). Pale-winged Trumpeter (Psophia leucoptera), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.pawtru2.01 retrieved December 1, 2022
  9. ^ van Leeuwen, M.; Hoogeland, C. (2004). "The first Pale-winged Trumpeter Psophia leucoptera in Colombia". Cotinga. 21: 76–77.
  10. ^ a b Sherman, Peter (2000). "Reproductive biology and ecology of white‐winged trumpeters (Psophia leucoptera) and recommendations for the breeding of captive trumpeters". Zoo Biology. 19: 65–84. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2361(2000)19:1<65::AID-ZOO7>3.0.CO;2-#.
  11. ^ Peres, Carlos (1996). "Ungulate Ectoparasite Removal by Black Caracaras and Pale-Winged Trumpeters in Amazonian Forests". The Wilson Bulletin. 108 (1). Wilson Ornithological Society: 170–175. JSTOR 4163652 – via JSTOR.
  12. ^ van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7.

Further reading