Cotinga (genus)

Cotinga is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the cotinga family, Cotingidae. It contains seven species that are found in tropical rainforest in South and Central America from southern Mexico to south-east Brazil. They feed mainly on fruit and forage high in trees.

Cotinga
Spangled cotinga (Cotinga cayana)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Cotingidae
Genus:	Cotinga Brisson, 1760
Type species
Ampelis cotinga Linnaeus, 1766
Species
7, see text.

They are 18–22 cm (7.1–8.7 in) long. The males have highly colourful plumage; bright blue with areas of purple. The blue colour is produced by air bubbles in the feathers which scatter light. Females are much duller than males and are mainly brown, often with pale feather edges giving them a scaled or speckled appearance.

The wings of the males make a whistling or rattling noise in flight.

Deforestation is a threat to several members of this genus. The turquoise cotinga is classed as Vulnerable by the IUCN and the banded cotinga is considered to be Endangered.

Taxonomy

The genus Cotinga was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760.^[1] The type species is the purple-breasted cotinga.^[2] The name is from the extinct Tupi language for a "bright forest bird".^[3]

The genus contains seven species:^[4]

Image	Name	Common name	Distribution
	Cotinga amabilis	Lovely cotinga	southern Mexico and Central America
	Cotinga ridgwayi	Turquoise cotinga	southern Costa Rica and western Panama
	Cotinga nattererii	Blue cotinga	Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena
	Cotinga maynana	Plum-throated cotinga	western Amazon basin
	Cotinga cotinga	Purple-breasted cotinga	Amazon basin & Guianas
	Cotinga maculata	Banded cotinga	mid-Atlantic Forest
	Cotinga cayana	Spangled cotinga	Amazon basin & Guianas

References

1. Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 2. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1 p. 32; Vol. 2 p. 339.
2. Traylor, Melvin A. Jr, ed. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 8. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 297.
3. Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Cotingas, manakins, tityras, becards". World Bird List Version 8.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 29 June 2018.