A FIELD STUDY OF THE CALFBIRD PERISSOCEPHALVS TRICOLOR

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Abstract
Summary: The Calf bird Perissocephalus tricolor was studied in the Kanuku Mountains of southern Guyana for three months (January‐April 1970), during which time almost daily visits were paid to a lek of four adult males.The adult males owned perches about 30 ft up in understorey trees, where they displayed and called throughout much of the day. Four immature males also visited the lek, particularly in the morning and evening. The immatures also wandered, feeding and occasionally calling together, over an area of forest of approximately 3 miles by half a mile. There was a hierarchy among the adult and immature males, the dominant males owning the most coveted perches at the lek.The male's most far‐reaching call, the “moo call”, is a co‐operative advertising call, in that birds calling together adjust the timing of their calls so as to follow each other and not overlap. The adult males perform a number of silent agonistic displays on their lek perches. Periodically, adult and immature males and sometimes a female invade the vicinity of a lek perch, usually that of the dominant male. Once a female was briefly mounted by the dominant male on his lek perch during an invasion. On other occasions females visited the lek but no mating occurred.The food of the males attending the lek was recorded by the daily collection of a total of 2,500 regurgitated fruit seeds (mostly drupes) from below the perches. Males also regularly take insects, but in smaller quantities.Three nests were found. The nest is an extremely light structure built entirely of fine twigs. A single egg was laid in each nest. All the nests (and two old ones) were within half a mile of the lek. Two of the nests were only 5 yards apart and the eggs were laid in them within 10 days of each other.The incubation period at one nest was 26–27 days and the fledging period approximately 27 days. The chick on hatching was covered in bright orange‐chestnut down. It was fed mostly on insects (predominantly Orthoptera) brought by the female in her beak. There was no evidence of a male attending the nest.The Calfbird's nesting and lek behaviour is compared with that of other species of Cotingidae.
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