Bird
Red-ruffed Fruitcrow
Pyroderus scutatusAlso known as Red-ruffed Fruit-Crow
Red-ruffed fruitcrows are massive, crow-sized cotingas renowned for the intense scarlet or crimson feathering spreading across their throat and chest like an illuminated gorget. Males gather at communal leks in the subcanopy, where they lean forward, inflate bright throat sacs, and project low-frequency, bovine booming calls that carry across misty mountain valleys. Between displays, they cruise through middle forest strata plucking large drupes and berries, acting as vital seed dispersers across fragmented cloud forests.
FrugivoreMontaneVocal
—observations
—countries
—peak records
Least ConcernConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXLeast ConcernRed List categories, explained →
Diet & preyPalm fruits, Lauraceae drupes, Katydids
Predators
- Harpy Eagle
- Black-and-chestnut Eagle
- Ocelot
ThreatsDeforestation, habitat fragmentation, and local hunting pressure
HabitatsHumid montane cloud forest, foothill rainforest, and subtropical Atlantic forest
Life span10–15 years
Classification
- FamilyCotingidae
- SpeciesPyroderus scutatus
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe at a normal distance.
Responsible observation
- Listening: Follow low, foghorn-like booming calls to locate leks in the subcanopy.
- Timing: Scan fruiting canopy trees early in the morning when birds actively feed.
- Binoculars: Bring bright optics because display sites typically sit in dense, shaded midstory.
Same Family Almir Cândido de Almeida / CC BY 2.0 · cc-by
Same Family (c) Thibaud Aronson, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Thibaud Aronson · cc-by-sa
Image unavailableSame Family Close Relative
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