Thursday, February 26, 2026

Plum-Throated Cotinga

On February 5, 2009 Judy and I were in Peru with my law partners and their wives. We were staying at the Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica on the edge of the Madre de Dios River near Tambopata National Reserve. I don't recall if we were near our lodging or on our hike into Lake Sandoval when I saw a plum-throated cotinga. I think it was the former. 
This is the original photo.

I just recently cropped it and it is of very low quality.
I have one identifier on iNaturalist confirming it, the third top identifier, but there was also the fifth top identifier that initially confirmed it, then withdrew the identification without specifying any reason. 
Illustration of a female from Birds of the World. 

Illustration of a male from Birds of the World. 
Males and females are highly dimorphic (different looking). The beautiful male is shiny turquoise-blue with a plum-purple patch on the neck. The female has dark grayish-brown upperparts, and lighter brown lower parts. It is found in the upper Amazon Basin, including the southeastern third of Colombia, the eastern third of Ecuador, eastern Peru, far northern Bolivia and part of Brazil. 
Range from Birds of the World.

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