The Striolated Manakin Is The Roundest And The Sweetest Bird That You Will Ever Meet (10 Photos)

Like all manakins, males are divorced from all nesting duties; they display in exploded leks, wherein the different individuals (usually no more than three, occasionally as many as 11) are within earshot but not sight of each other, usually sited atop low hills. Each male possesses a number of favored perches, from which the bird calls intermittently throughout the day, but switches to making a series of short vertical jumps, each one accompanied by vibrating wing movements (employing the modified secondaries) and insect-like buzzing notes, should a female appear at the lek site. Populations of this species east and west of the Andes differ slightly in their vocalizations.