The blue-crowned manakin (Lepidothrix coronata ) is a species of bird in the family Pipridae. The males have a brilliant blue cap; some have black, others have green body plumage, but the relationship between the subspecies is not well understood.
It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and heavily degraded former forest.
Blue-crowned manakins show sexual dimorphism in weight and wing chord length. Females are heavier at 9.8 g on average with a max weight of 11.5 g and a minimum weight of 8.5 g. Males are 8.5 g on average with a maximum weight of 9.5 g and a minimum weight of 7.5 g. Males have a wing chord length of 60.45 mm on average with a maximum length of 63 mm and a minimum length of 58 mm. Females have a wing chord length of 58.76 mm on average with a maximum length of 62 mm and a minimum length of 55 mm.
Males are sooty black with a bright blue crown while females are green. Juvenile plumage is similar to female plumage but is duller in color. Their first prebasic molt occurs within 2 months of leaving the nest and is a partial molt. Their second prebasic molt occurs at the end of the first breeding season or one year after their first prebasic molt. This molt is complete, so they lose their molt limits. At this stage, males gain signs of male plumage. The third prebasic molt occurs at the end of their third year and males gain full male plumage.
Blue-crowned manakins live in terra firme forest understory of South America.
Blue-crowned manakins are frugivores. Their diet includes fruit from Melastomataceae, Moraceae, Bromeliaceae, and Araceae.
When feeding in a mixed flock, blue-crowned manakins tend to flock with cinereus and dusty-throated antshrikes, and the white-flanked, Yasuni, long-winged, gray, and rufous-tailed stipplethroats. These flocks are typically only composed of one or two blue-crowned manakins. When there are two blue-crowned manakins in a flock, they forage independently from one another. Their behavior is never aggressive toward other species of birds in the flock. Both males and females forage in mixed flocks, but females spend more time on average in the flock. They forage in the understory between a height of 2–7 m. Their preferred food while in flocks are arthropods, including ants, flies, and other small insects. While catching arthropods, their hunting technique was often a sally-strike or sally-glean off of live foliage. Considering their normally frugivorous diet, it is speculated that the blue-crowned manakins are taking advantage of the flock's ability to cause insects to scatter.
Breeding season coincides with the dry season (late November to early April). Males are known to display alone or form leks of up to seven males. Adult and juvenile males form territories though juveniles are unable to maintain their own territory. Their territories range from 206 to 5045 m² in size. They defend their territory and attract mates through song. They perform their songs on song perches that are horizontal or slightly angled twigs and will sing between 6am and 5pm. Their display courts are 3–5 m in diameter and are located close to the ground in the open understory. They use up to two courts at a time, but courts can change location annually. Their courtship displays are somewhat complex with a total of 11 behaviors, 6 of which are aerial. Female's home ranges average 4 ha in size and overlap with one lek on average.
Blue-crowned manakins make simple, open-cup nests using dry palm, dry leaves, and/or bark externally. The internal lining of their nest is pale brown, but can also be whitish or yellow. They use spider webs to secure their nests to the tree. They chose small shrubs and treelets that are less than 1 meter tall and place their nests on horizontal forks. They typically nest in Rudgea spp., Ixora killipii, R. viridifoliax, and R. lindenicana along small ravines. Females are the sole nest builders and take care of their offspring alone. They lay two eggs per clutch. Their nests experience high predation rates. To help mitigate this risk, Blue-crowned manakins choose nesting sites away from wire-tailed manakins, a species that favors similar nesting environments. This reduces the number of birds nesting in one area and thus reduces the chance that predators will predate the area.
Blue-crowned manakins experience high nest predation rates with 70% of nests failing due to predation. It is estimated that only 7.5% of nests successfully fledge young. It is uncertain how blue-crowned manakins maintain population size with such a low rate of success, but it has been speculated that high female survivability and multiple breeding attempts per season may be a factor.
Blue-crowned manakins can get infected with haemosporidian parasites. A genetic study revealed that half of the sampled manakins were infected with blood parasites, representing nine different types. Young individuals had higher infection rates compared to adults.
The blue-crowned manakin has least concern conservation status. A major factor in this decision is its large range of 5,050,000 km2 (1,950,000 sq mi). Its population size is unknown, but has a decreasing trend.
