Birds
Manakin
Pipridae · also called manakins
A male manakin does not just sing or flash colour to attract a mate, it dances, performing a routine precise enough in some species to include a rapid backward shuffle across a branch that looks remarkably like a moonwalk. Some species even snap or buzz their own wing feathers together to add a mechanical soundtrack, a trick almost no other bird uses.
Overview
Manakins, family Pipridae, are small, often boldly coloured birds of Central and South American rainforest. Feeding mainly on fruit, males gather at a shared display ground called a lek, performing elaborate, highly practised courtship routines for visiting females.
A performance years in the making
Some species produce sharp snapping or buzzing sounds by mechanically vibrating modified wing feathers rather than singing. These routines take real practice, with younger males often spending years perfecting their moves before a female chooses them — after which she raises the young entirely alone.
Status
Least Concern collectively but decreasing for species tied to intact forest, since lekking depends on a stable display site that forest disturbance can disrupt.
Manakin: common questions
Do manakins really perform a move like the human moonwalk?
Yes, males of certain manakin species, most famously the golden-collared manakin and red-capped manakin, perform a rapid backward sliding shuffle across a branch as part of their courtship display, a movement that closely resembles the moonwalk dance step popularised in human pop culture, and this comparison is widely used by researchers and birdwatchers alike to describe the behaviour.
How do manakins make snapping and buzzing sounds without singing?
Certain manakin species produce these sounds mechanically, using specially modified, sometimes thickened or unusually shaped wing feathers that they rapidly vibrate, snap, or strike together during a display, a mechanism called sonation, which is distinct from typical vocal bird sounds produced through the syrinx and is considered a genuinely unusual adaptation among birds generally.
What is a lek and why do manakins use one?
A lek is a shared display area where multiple males of a species gather to perform courtship displays in relatively close proximity to one another, and females visit specifically to observe and compare different males before selecting a mate. This system allows females to efficiently assess multiple potential partners in one location and is thought to intensify competition among males, favouring the evolution of increasingly elaborate and refined display behaviours over time, exactly the pattern seen in manakins.
Do young manakins already know how to perform the full display?
Not immediately. The complex, precisely timed courtship routines of some manakin species take real practice to perform correctly, and younger males often spend a period of years refining their display, in some cases in the presence of more experienced males, before they become capable of a fully polished, successful performance likely to attract a mate.