Green-and-black Fruiteater (Pipreola riefferii)

About Green-and-black Fruiteater (Pipreola riefferii)

• Kingdom: Animals
• Phylum: Chordates
• Class: Birds
• Order: Perching Birds
• Family: Cotingas

Subspecies and Distribution

• P. r. ntelanolaema P. L. Sclater, 1856 - mountains of NW & N Venezuela (S Lara S to C Tachira, and Aragua E to Miranda).
• P. r riefferii (Boissonneau, 1840) - Sierra de Perija (on Colombia-Venezuela border), W Venezuela (W Tachira), and E & C Andes of Colombia.
• P. r. occidentalis (Chapman, 1914) - W Andes (also extreme S end of C range) of Colombia and W slope in Ecuador.
• P r. confusa J. T. Zimmer, 1936 - E Andes of Ecuador and extreme N Peru (W Amazonas).
• P r. chachapoyas (Hellmayr, 1915) - N Peru E of R Maralion (in Amazonas and San Martin).
• P. r. tallmanorum O'Neill & Parker, 1981 - Carpish Mts and Cerros de Sira, in Huanueo (Peru).

Habitat
Montane forest, forest borders and secondary woodland; mostly 1000-2900 m, locally higher, to 3050 m, exceptionally to 3300 m (Snow 2004).

Trophic strategy
Apparently only fruit. In E Andes of Colombia, fruits of 16 plant species, from eight families, recorded, with those of Chloranthaceae, Ericaceae and Melastomataceae numerically most important. Plucks fruits while perched or during clumsy hover. Often accompanies mixed-species foraging flocks (Snow 2004).
Natural History Museum, London