Red-crested cotinga
The red-crested cotinga is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The red-crested cotinga is monotypic. It shares genus Ampelion with the chestnut-crested cotinga. Early in the twentieth century some authors had placed both of them in genus Heliochera, which no longer exists.Description
The red-crested cotinga is long and weighs. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a dark gray head with a long chestnut-maroon crest which is usually held flat against the nape. Their body is gray and their wings and tail mostly a darker gray. Their upper- and undertail coverts, rump, and vent area have variable amounts of white streaking. The underside of their tail has a white band near the end. They have a deep red iris, a bill with an ivory-white or pale gray base and blackish gray tip, and black or dark gray legs and feet. Immatures are overall paler than adults due to pale fringes on their feathers.Distribution and habitat
The red-crested cotinga has a disjunct distribution. It is found in the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia, in the Serranía del Perijá that straddles the Colombia-Venezuela border, in the Andes from northeastern Trujillo in Venezuela into the northern part of Colombia's Eastern Andes, and nearly continuously in the Andes from Colombia's Central and Western ranges south through Ecuador and Peru into Bolivia as far as Santa Cruz Department. In Peru it is found on the west side of the Andes as far south as Ancash Department and along the eastern side for most of the country's length.The red-crested cotinga inhabits semi-open landscapes in the temperate zone including the edges of cloudforest and humid woodlands, páramo with some patches of trees and bushes, and locally borders of agricultural areas that have trees. In elevation it ranges between in Venezuela, between in Colombia, mostly between in Ecuador, and between in Peru.