Non-monogamous mating system and evidence of lekking behaviour in the Helmeted Manakin (Aves: Pipridae)

ABSTRACT

Manakins (Pipridae) are a group of Neotropical birds well known for their spectacular lekking displays and non-monogamous mating system. Nevertheless, the two species of Antilophia have been traditionally considered monogamous and, therefore, an exception to this rule. In this paper, we studied the home range and the mating system of a colour-ringed population of the Helmeted Manakin Antilophia galeata in southeastern Brazil. We propose that it is a non-monogamous species that ranges widely during the breeding season, presenting a lekking behaviour in the form of unspectacular but aggressive chasing courtship displays.

KEYWORDS:

• Antilophia
• home range
• lek
• sexual selection

Acknowledgements

Ringing and collecting permits were provided, respectively, by CEMAVE (4090/2) and ICMBio (23439-2). This study complies with all ethical standards for research (CEUA-UFV 50/2016). CAF-UFV allowed us to conduct this study in the area under their care. Gustavo Martins, Manoella Morais, Luana Ferreira and Dalila Ferreira helped during fieldwork. Guilherme Freitas, Lílian Costa, Fabio Raposo do Amaral, Jeffrey Streicher and two anonymous referees presented useful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) (scholarship to BMF) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (research fellowship to LEL, 309660/2017-3).