Black Manakin

About the Black Manakin

The black manakin (Xenopipo atronitens) is a species of bird in the family Pipridae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Jean Cabanis erected genus Xenopipo in 1847 with the black manakin as its type species. It shares the genus with the olive manakin (X. uniformis). The black manakin is monotypic.

The black manakin is 12 to 13 cm (4.7 to 5.1 in) long and weighs 12.5 to 18 g (0.44 to 0.63 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males are almost entirely glossy black; their wings and tail are slightly duller and browner. Adult females have dark olive upperparts, a grayish throat, and yellowish olive underparts. Both sexes have a dark brown iris and dark olive-gray legs and feet. Both sexes have a heavy bill; males' are pale bluish gray and females' have a blackish maxilla and a pale bluish gray mandible.

The black manakin has a highly disjunct distribution. One large range extends from Meta Department in central Colombia widening to the east across northern Amazonas and Roraima in northern Brazil, Amazonas and southern and central Bolívar in... Wikipedia →