Red-capped Manakin

The red-capped manakin (Ceratopipra mentalis) is a species of bird in the family Pipridae. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. The bird is probably best known for the male's unusual courting method whereby he shuffles rapidly backwards across a branch, akin to a speedy moonwalk. Hence its nickname the Michael Jackson bird. == Taxonomy == The red-capped manakin was formally described and illustrated in 1857 by the English zoologist Philip Sclater based on specimen collected by Auguste Sallé in Córdoba, Veracruz, southern Mexico. Sclater placed the species in the genus Pipra and coined the binomial name Pipra mentalis. The specific epithet mentalis is Latin meaning "pertaining to the chin". The red-capped manakin was moved to the genus Ceratopipra when molecular phylogenetic studies found that Pipra was non-monophyletic. It is closely related to, and in eastern Panama sometimes hybridizes with, the golden-headed manakin. Three subspecies are recognized subspecies: Ceratopipra mentalis mentalis (Sclater, PL, 1857) – southeast Mexico to east Costa Rica Ceratopipra mentalis ignifera (Bangs, 1901) – west Costa Rica and west Panama Ceratopipra mentalis minor (Hartert, 1898) – east Panama…