Turquoise Cotinga

About the Turquoise Cotinga

The turquoise cotinga or Ridgway's cotinga (Cotinga ridgwayi) is a Vulnerable species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. The turquoise cotinga is monotypic. It, the lovely cotinga (C. amabilis), and the blue cotinga (C. nattererii) form a superspecies. The plum-throated (C. maynana), purple-breasted (C. cotinga), and banded (C. maculata) cotingas may also be part of that clade.

The turquoise cotinga is 17 to 18.5 cm (6.7 to 7.3 in) long and weighs about 51 to 66 g (1.8 to 2.3 oz). The sexes are dramatically dimorphic. Adult males have deep turquoise-blue upperparts. Their wings are black with thin to moderately wide blue edges on most feathers. Their tail is black; their turquoise-blue uppertail coverts are long and cover much of the tail. Their chin and throat and separately their breast and upper belly are purple. Adult females are larger than males. They have mostly dark brown upperparts with buffish white feather tips that produce a scalloped appearance. Their wings are mostly dusky brown with buffish white scallops on most coverts and cinnamon edges on the tertials. Their tail is dusky brown.... Wikipedia →