The long-wattled umbrellabird is an umbrellabird in the Cotingidae family. Its Spanish names include pájaro bolsón, pájaro toro, dungali, and vaca del monte. The long-wattled umbrellabird is considered rare and it resides in humid to wet premontane and cloud forest. They are often found on the Pacific slopes of southwest Colombia and western Ecuador, but occasionally are found at lower altitudes.
Region
Northwest South America
Typical Environment
Occurs on the Pacific slopes of southwestern Colombia and western Ecuador, primarily within the Chocó biogeographic region. It inhabits humid to wet premontane and cloud forests, favoring mature, tall-canopy tracts. The species spends most of its time in the canopy and subcanopy and often uses ridge-top sites for display leks. It may descend to lower elevations seasonally or where fruit is abundant, including along forest edges and in secondary growth near intact forest.
Altitude Range
100–1800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Males have an extraordinary feathered throat wattle that can be extended to great length during display and retracted when not in use. They gather at leks where males produce deep, booming calls that carry through the forest canopy. Habitat loss from deforestation and hunting pressure have led to serious declines.
Temperament
shy and elusive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief glides between canopy trees
Social Behavior
Males display at traditional leks, inflating the wattle and giving loud, resonant calls while bowing and hopping on exposed perches. Outside the lek, birds are usually solitary or in small loose groups around fruiting trees. Nesting is carried out in trees; the female builds the nest and provides most or all parental care, typically raising a single chick.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
Deep, booming notes that carry over long distances, often likened to a low moo. Displays may include soft grunts and mechanical sounds as the wattle is moved.
Plumage
Glossy black plumage with a shaggy, umbrella-like crest that droops over the bill; feathers dense and velvety in appearance.
Diet
Primarily consumes large fruits from canopy trees such as palms and laurels, often swallowing them whole and later regurgitating seeds. It also takes arthropods and occasionally small vertebrates, making it an opportunistic feeder when fruit is scarce. By dispersing seeds, it plays an important ecological role in maintaining forest dynamics.
Preferred Environment
Feeds high in the canopy and subcanopy at fruiting trees, especially along ridgelines and in undisturbed forest. Will sometimes venture to forest edges and secondary growth if large fruiting trees are present.
