The Long-tailed Manakin (Chiroxiphia linearis) is a medium-sized, sexually dimorphic bird in the family Pipridae, found in Pacific lowlands from southern Mexico to northwestern Costa Rica. Males are strikingly black with light-blue mantles, red crowns, and long tail feathers, while females are dull olive-green. They are non-migratory frugivores that rely on closed-canopy forests and are best known for their intricate, cooperative lek-based courtship displays.
Learn to identify
Adult male Long-tailed Manakin perched in Costa Rica.
Learning lesson · openly licensed photographs, labelled by BirdBot; labels checked against the cited sources and approved by AI
Red crown: a bright red cap on a black head. Sky-blue back: a blue mantle on an all-black body. Orange-red legs: bright legs and feet below the black body. Two long tail streamers: narrow central tail feathers, greatly elongated. Red cap, blue back and long tail streamers mean an adult male.
Females and immature males are olive-green.
Sources: Wikipedia: Long-tailed manakin (revision 1380781691) · Animal Diversity Web: Chiroxiphia linearis (long-tailed manakin)
Photo: Andrew Hrycyna, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; labels added by BirdBot.
Long-tailed Manakins are easily distinguished by their sexual dimorphism. Adult males have black primary body plumage, vibrant light-blue mantles, a bright red crown, and long central tail feathers that assist in courtship. Females are dull olive-green with a greater wingspan than males. Both sexes have bright orange feet.
Immature males resemble females, possessing dull olive-green plumage but retaining the red crown of adult males. Plumage maturation in males is a slow process, taking 3 to 5 years to reach sexual maturity. The light-blue mantles are the final addition to an immature male's plumage development. A study in Costa Rica recorded male body mass between 16 and 20 grams and female body mass between 18 and 24 grams.
Long-tailed Manakins inhabit the Pacific lowlands from southern Mexico (Oaxaca) to northwestern Costa Rica. They are found in mangroves, lowlands, premontane tropical moist forests, and tropical dry forests. The species typically occupies areas with a closed canopy. Throughout their range, habitats experience a rainy season from May to December and a dry season from January to April.
For birders, regions within the Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica and Mexico provide the specific closed-canopy habitats the manakins require for foraging and lekking.
These birds are non-migratory and may have home ranges of up to 80 hectares. They forage briefly, spending roughly an hour a day on trips lasting less than 4 minutes. Only males socialize, and this occurs exclusively at lek sites.
The species has a polygynous mating system. Adult males perform intricate courtship displays to attract females, often beginning with a "cheeoo hoo" note. Displays involve an alpha and a beta male working as a partnership, though only the alpha copulates. Young males assist several alphas until they establish dominance, a process that can take up to 8 years to form a long-term beta partnership.
There are at least two forms of courtship dance. In the first, males perch 10 to 15 cm apart, taking turns jumping and hovering while facing the female, bowing their heads to showcase their red crowns and fluffing their blue mantles. In the second, a "juggling" variation, one male leaps while the other moves to his perch before jumping. After the sequence, the males fly away in a slow, bouncing path resembling a blue morpho butterfly. Females are more likely to visit a lek if the singing frequencies of the two males are relatively similar.
Long-tailed Manakins are frugivores, preferring fruit from tucuido (Ardisia revoluta) and seeds from Stemmadenia donnell-smithii. Tucuido fruits ripen in March and are abundant until April. When preferred items are scarce, they consume fruit in the ripening stage, unripe fruit, Trichilia cuneata fruit, seeds of Muntingia calabura and W. solancea, and various insects.
Females build cup nests in trees less than 3 meters tall, often in Terminalia lucida, using spider web fibers, fungal rhizomorphs, moss, and leaf blades. Males do not assist with nest building or rearing young. Nest building begins in March and takes about 3 days. Females lay 1 to 2 beige eggs with dark brown spots. Nesting success is very low due to predators and nest destruction from wind, particularly during the dry season.
Common vocalizations include one to four "coo" or "cow" notes, a rapid "kur" repeated several times, and singular "uh-ahhhr," "pyeek," and "toe-lay-doe" calls. Males use the "cheeoo hoo" note to draw birds to their lek sites.
The Long-tailed Manakin is listed as Least Concern (LC) in AviList v2026. This classification reflects its current global status and does not indicate local abundance or a new assessment.
To locate a lek, listen for the distinctive "cheeoo hoo" note or the "miaow-raow" calls used by males during their courtship displays. Once you have identified the source of the sound, remain at a distance and use binoculars or a camera with a long lens to observe. Do not approach the display perch; human presence can interrupt the intricate male courtship dances and stress the birds or their potential partners. Staying still and observing from afar allows you to watch the behavior without disturbance.
Note: Population trends are reported as stable in the ADW account (citing BirdLife International, 2012). The BirdLife DataZone link above provides the current global assessment and distribution data.
