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10 Facts About The Bare-necked Umbrellabird – Endangered Endemic Costa Rica Bird

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The Bare-necked Umbrellabird (Cephalopterus glabricollis) is quite a peculiar Central American endemic species. I was privileged to view and photograph a male Umbrellabird during a recent trip to Costa Rica, and I’ve been captivated by this stunning bird ever since.

So, without further adieu, let’s dive into some fun facts about the Bare-necked Umbrellabird!

The Bare-necked Umbrellabird’s binomial name translates to “Bald-necked feather-head.”

By breaking down the scientific binomial into its two parts, we can gain insight into the origin of this bird’s common English name.

The genus name, Cephalopterus, is Greek for Cephalo– meaning head, and –pterus, meaning feather or wing. The species name, glabricollis, can be broken down into two Latin words: Glabri– from the word glaber, which means bald or hairless, and –collis from the word collum, which means neck or throat.

While studying many of the birds in Central America, I noticed a lot of very literal names, and the Bare-necked Umbrellabird has met this same fate. At first glance, you might say it should have been called the Bare-throated Umbrellabird rather than the Bare-necked. However, looking at depictions and photos of both males and females, we can see both sexes share bare patches of skin on the sides of the neck while only the male bears the species’ iconic bare throat pouch, making the neck an applicable feature to represent both.

Our encounter with this male Bare-necked Umbrellabird was brief but extremely memorable. He only stayed for a couple of minutes; the timestamps for my first and last images are 10:40:46 and 10:41:11, respectively. Still, this bird was within the top five targets I wanted to see, but I had very low expectations of actually viewing one, let alone getting photos of it. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)
Our encounter with this male Bare-necked Umbrellabird was brief but extremely memorable. He only stayed for a couple of minutes; the timestamps for my first and last images are 10:40:46 and 10:41:11, respectively. Still, this bird was within the top five targets I wanted to see, but I had very low expectations of actually viewing one, let alone getting photos of it. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)

Bare-necked Umbrellabird sounds.

The Bare-necked Umbrellabird’s vocalizations are quite odd. Their typical call is a raspy, couching-like sound. To attract females, males produce a deep, whoop call during the breeding season.

This is done by stretching the neck upward and inflating the throat sac, followed by quickly expelling this air by throwing their heads down and backward while pushing their chest out. Like many species, the Bare-necked Umbrellabirds display during the morning hours, so their calls carry much farther in the moist air.

However, these birds are typically very quiet and can stay silent on only a few perches daily, so hearing these sounds is a pleasure.

Male Bare-necked Umbrellabirds form lek displays to attract females.

Leks are a form of mating display in which several males congregate in an area to vocalize, dance, or perform any number of behaviors to exhibit their prowess over rival males in an attempt to attract a female.

For Bare-necked Umbrellabirds, leks are more loosely connected. Males are in clearly separated groups, and each has a set number of perches from which they display. Intrasexual combat, male fighting male, is common, and the conqueror typically flashes his wings after taking a rival’s perch.

Leks only function during the breeding season, March through May. However, Bare-necked Umbrellabirds show strong site fidelity by returning to the same lek sites year after year.

Bare-necked Umbrellabirds are primarily frugivores.

Like many other rainforest birds, the Bare-necked Umbrellabird is primarily a fruit eater. They often take fruit while on the wing but will also reach for it if it is close enough to their perch. While their diet mainly focuses on fruit, Umbrellabirds also eat small reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates.

A unique feeding behavior found in Central and South America is that of birds that follow ants to find food. Some simply use the ants to guide them to a free meal, while others steal the food from the ant’s mandibles.

Surprisingly, a Bare-necked Umbrellabird was observed in 2005 feeding on invertebrates disturbed by army ants. This is the first and only observation of this behavior, but other individuals likely do this throughout their range.

It appears that this Umbrellabird is banded. There is a yellow band on the lower right leg and an aluminum band on the lower left. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to track down who is researching this banded bird. If you have any information, please let me know or forward this article to them so I can make an official report. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)
It appears that this Umbrellabird is banded. There is a yellow band on the lower right leg and an aluminum band on the lower left. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to track down who is researching this banded bird. If you have any information, please let me know or forward this article to them so I can make an official report. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)

Bare-necked Umbrellabirds undergo altitudinal migration.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Costa Rican avifauna is their altitudinal migration. Unlike our equatorial migration, where birds fly thousands of miles to their breeding grounds in the north and wintering grounds in the south to escape the cold, altitudinal migration involves moving higher or lower in elevation to follow fruit abundance.

Since Costa Rica is at 10° latitude, its climate is virtually the same year-round. Compare this to Orlando, FL, which sits roughly at 28° latitude and has a mild winter with notably shorter days, or New York City, which is at 40° latitude and has a relatively harsh winter.

Because of this consistent climate and sunshine, the birds have evolved alongside the fruiting cycles of the plants. So, as the plants at higher elevations begin to produce fruit in the spring, the birds that feed on these climb in elevation to feed on them. Because of this abundant food supply, it creates an environment that can support the young, and this creates a breeding cycle. Repeat this process over hundreds or thousands of generations, and you make a repetitive annual migration.

The Bare-necked Umbrellabird, specifically, climbs to 3,000 to 5,000 feet during its breeding season from March to June. As the abundance of food fades, they return to lower elevations of 300 to 1500 feet for their nonbreeding season.

A 2003 study showed that Umbrellabirds at their highest range coincided with the largest abundance of fruit. The same study also found that when the birds returned to low elevations, this also overlapped with a plenitude of fruit.

Bare-necked Umbrellabirds belong to the Cotingidae family.

Cotingidae, also called Cotingas, are an incredibly unique family of birds found only in Central and South America. Belonging to the largest avian order, Passeriformes, the 36 species of the Cotinga family are some of the most unique birds on our planet.

If you haven’t heard of the species I’m about to list, I implore you to simply do a quick search to see these strange and stunning birds.

  • Three-wattled Bellbird (Procnias tricarunculatus)
  • Spangled Cotinga (Cotinga cayana)
  • Capuchinbird (Perissocephalus tricolor)
  • Crimson Fruitcrow (Haematoderus militaris)
  • Andean Cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus)
  • Peruvian Plantcutter (Phytotoma raimondii)
  • Handsome Fruiteater (Pipreola formosa)
  • Hooded Berryeater (Carpornis cucullata)

Most Cotingas prefer staying deep in forests, but their habitat and preferred elevation vary from species to species. Another shared trait is that all Cotinas are frugivores, with larger species supplementing their diet with carnivorous tendencies, like our Bare-necked Umbrellabirds.

The sizes of these birds can vary from around sparrow or warbler-like to more sizable than a crow. Many Cotinas share the lekking behavior discussed earlier. However, the exact methods of displaying and spacing between males at the lek site vary depending on the species.

Unfortunately, 10 of the 36 Cotina species range from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered primarily due to the risk and actual habitat loss. Species, like the Chestnut-capped Piha (Lipaugus weberi), only exist in extremely localized populations, so any habitat loss could result in major disaster to their populations.

However, on the hopeful side, since many of these birds prefer to stay in dense, rarely visited forests, there is the potential, however unlikely, that the populations are more numerous than we currently estimate. Still, conserving the rain and cloud forests these birds call home must be a priority to sustain their future.

While these images are far better than I hoped for, my camera had to pull its weight to make these photos. To put it into perspective, the settings on this image are ƒ 6.3, 1/640 sec shutter speed, and ISO 25,600. For reference, my preferred settings are ƒ 8, 1/2000 sec shutter speed, and ISO below 1,000. Translating this to plain English, the higher the ratio for shutter speed, the faster the shutter opens and closes and gives less chance for motion blur. The ƒ-stop has to do with the diameter of the opening that allows light onto the camera’s sensor when the shutter opens, where the higher the number, the smaller the opening, but higher ƒ-stops give more depth of field. Finally, the ISO is the sensor's sensitivity to light, where the higher the ISO level, the sensor can shoot in lower light, but there’s the trade-off of noise or image grain. So, to get this photo, I had to go to my highest ISO setting, drop below half of my desired shutter speed, and open up my aperture to the lowest ƒ-stop my lens allows. Before this trip, I was confused as to why there were so few reports with photos of many of these forest birds. However, having to fight for light while making these images made it clear why that’s the case. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)
While these images are far better than I hoped for, my camera had to pull its weight to make these photos. To put it into perspective, the settings on this image are ƒ 6.3, 1/640 sec shutter speed, and ISO 25,600. For reference, my preferred settings are ƒ 8, 1/2000 sec shutter speed, and ISO below 1,000. Translating this to plain English, the higher the ratio for shutter speed, the faster the shutter opens and closes and gives less chance for motion blur. The ƒ-stop has to do with the diameter of the opening that allows light onto the camera’s sensor when the shutter opens, where the higher the number, the smaller the opening, but higher ƒ-stops give more depth of field. Finally, the ISO is the sensor’s sensitivity to light, where the higher the ISO level, the sensor can shoot in lower light, but there’s the trade-off of noise or image grain. So, to get this photo, I had to go to my highest ISO setting, drop below half of my desired shutter speed, and open up my aperture to the lowest ƒ-stop my lens allows. Before this trip, I was confused as to why there were so few reports with photos of many of these forest birds. However, having to fight for light while making these images made it clear why that’s the case. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)

Bare-necked Umbrellabirds are a Costa Rica and Panamana endemic species.

Like many species in this region of Central America, the Bare-necked Umbrellabirds are classified as an endemic species; this means this is the only place in the world where you can find this bird in its natural habitat.

The unique terrain of Costa Rica and Panama creates the perfect environment for speciation. The Continental Divide of the Americas runs from the northern edge of Alaska to the southernmost tip of Argentina, perfectly bisecting Costa Rica into the Pacific and Caribbean sides, running from the northwest corner to the southeast.

The high mountain range and abundant food sources on both sides of the Continental Divide promote populations to remain separated. Over the course of hundreds or thousands of generations, random mutation creates differences between two populations. Eventually, these differences could become substantial enough to make these two populations distinct species, and this is a classic example of speciation.

Take the Coppery-headed Emerald (Microchera cupreiceps) and its closely related relative, the White-tailed Emerald (Microchera chionura). Both hummingbirds are endemic, with the Coppery-headed being a strict endemic to the Costa Rican Caribbean highlands and the White-tailed, ranging from the Pacific lowlands in Costa Rica to the Caribbean shores in Panama.

While only weighing around three grams, the tiny Coppery-headed Emerald is a beautiful example of speciation caused by a geographic feature. The Continental Divide created the perfect separation of Costa Rica's Pacific and Caribbean sides, and everything from flowers to fish to birds shows that there was once a common ancestor that led to two highly similar species separated by this mountain range. (Monteverde, CR, 2024)
While only weighing around three grams, the tiny Coppery-headed Emerald is a beautiful example of speciation caused by a geographic feature. The Continental Divide created the perfect separation of Costa Rica’s Pacific and Caribbean sides, and everything from flowers to fish to birds shows that there was once a common ancestor that led to two highly similar species separated by this mountain range. (Monteverde, CR, 2024)

Even though these two species conduct altitudinal migration, like the Umbrellabird, they tend to stay on their side of the Continental Divide. Because of this and likely countless generations, evolution has had enough time to form these two populations into distinct species.

In the past, there might have been a connection between the Bare-necked Umbrellabird and some of its southern cousins. However, due to some unknown circumstances, the Bare-necked is the only member of its genus left in Central America.

It could have been that there was a sister population of Umbrellabirds on the Pacific side of the country, and over time, this population withered away until the only group left was the Caribbean population of what we now call Bare-necked Umbrellabirds.

Likely, we’ll never know why these are the only Umbrellabirds in Costa Rica, but it’s always fun to try and come up with speculations.

The Bare-necked Umbrellabird is the rarest of the three Umbrellabird species.

The other two members of the Cephalopterus genus, the Amazonian Umbrellabird (C. ornatus) and Long-wattled Umbrellabird (C. penduliger), are the South American relatives to the Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Partially due to their larger territories, particularly for the Amazonian, their populations are significantly larger than the Bare-necked.

According to BirdLife International, while the Amazonian Umbrellabird’s population size is admittedly unknown, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Unfortunately, due to its expansive range across the Amazon Basin, it’s hard to know the exact numbers regarding the health of the Amazonian population.

While it spans most of inland, north-central South America, deforestation of the rainforests could mean its true range is more of a patchwork across this sector. Reducing a species’ range is a qualifying factor when considering its status on the Red List, and due to a lack of research, we don’t have a complete idea of how much it declines year after year.

Further, due to their extensive range, researchers assume their population doesn’t meet the criteria for a decline that would mark them as a Vulnerable species. This means the population is currently expected to be greater than 10,000 mature individuals, with less than a 10% population decrease every ten years.

So, while the Amazonian Umbrellabird might seem the most well-off of the three species, we sadly don’t have the foggiest idea of their future.

The Bare-necked Umbrellabird is such an odd-looking species. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve mentioned this bird to others, and their first reaction is, “That can’t be a real bird name.” However, with its limited range, this is a bird that few people get to see, so I can understand the confusion. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)
The Bare-necked Umbrellabird is such an odd-looking species. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve mentioned this bird to others, and their first reaction is, “That can’t be a real bird name.” However, with its limited range, this is a bird that few people get to see, so I can understand the confusion. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)

The estimated population of the Long-wattled Umbrellabird is between 7,500 and 15,000 mature individuals, according to BirdLife International. While this does seem more significant than the Amazonian’s population estimates, the range of the Long-wattled is nearly as limited as the Bare-necked. 

The Long-wattled Umbrellabird’s range is along the Pacific slope of the Andes in a narrow band running through southern Columbia and much of western Ecuador. However, its population is scattered throughout this range due to habitat loss and poaching.

Because of these factors, the Long-wattled Umbrellabird is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, only one step away from being Endangered. Conservation efforts are ongoing for this species, but the future isn’t looking bright with increasing habitat loss.

All Umbrellabirds depend on access to dense, old-growth forests, and with humans spreading deeper into these regions looking for minerals, lumbar, and oil, there will only be more habitat loss. That is why we need to try to conserve these areas and protect them for future generations.

Costa Rica has taken this to heart, with over 26% of its total landmass protected by refuges, national parks, and conservation areas. If other countries consider their natural resources and the immense value they provide by protecting them rather than exploiting them, they might follow Costa Rica’s path toward conservation.

There are only around 2,500 Bare-necked Umbrellabirds in the wild today.

Because of their reclusive habits and challenging to access habitat, the true numbers of the Bare-necked Umbrellabird’s population are hard to be sure of. Depending on the sources you look at, there could be as few as 190 mature individuals (birds within breeding age), all the way up to 7,100 mature Umbrellabirds.

The widely accepted ~2,500 individuals stem from a 2013 article published in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which stated that the population size was less than 2,500 birds.

Witnessing the mist rise from the canopy was a surreal experience for me. I remember watching hours upon hours of nature documentaries where it would open on a scene just like this and seeing it with my own eyes was incredible. But, in case you didn’t know, this occurrence is known as evapotranspiration, where water escapes from the pores (stomata) of the leaves. (Monteverde, CR, 2024)
Witnessing the mist rise from the canopy was a surreal experience for me. I remember watching hours upon hours of nature documentaries where it would open on a scene just like this and seeing it with my own eyes was incredible. But, in case you didn’t know, this occurrence is known as evapotranspiration, where water escapes from the pores (stomata) of the leaves. (Monteverde, CR, 2024)

There are only 1,607 reports of the Bare-necked Umbrellabird.

As of this article’s writing, there are only 1,607 confirmed listings of the Bare-necked Umbrellabird on eBird. This is a tough bird to locate, and it’s a real treat to have the honor of seeing and photographing one.

Further, according to eBird, there are only 363 confirmed listings with photos of the Bare-necked Umbrellabird. The unfortunate thing I witnessed while in Costa Rica was the lack of eBird users. Of our group, less than half of us consistently listed.

During this trip, I submitted 71 checklists accounting for 236 species over nine days. Some lists were made over long hikes through the cloud forests, while others were short segments on bus rides to a new location.

Regardless, adding data to eBird and photos to the Macaulay Library is vital to ongoing research for endangered species like the Bare-necked Umbrellabird.

Now We Know Some Facts About the Bare-necked Umbrellabird!

I hope you learned some new things about the Bare-necked Umbrellabird! From its odd yet striking appearance to its diet, habits, and taxonomic information, there is so much to discover about this spectacular bird.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. If you have ideas or suggestions for topics you would like me to write about in the future, feel free to leave a comment below or email me!

If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe to my email list to be the first to know when I post new articles!

Get Outside & Happy Birding

Max

I am so grateful and thankful to have the privilege of seeing a wild Bare-necked Umbrellabird! I hope you enjoyed this article and learned a little more about this unique and wonderful bird. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)
I am so grateful and thankful to have the privilege of seeing a wild Bare-necked Umbrellabird! I hope you enjoyed this article and learned a little more about this unique and wonderful bird. (San Ramón, CR, 2024)

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2 thoughts on “10 Facts About The Bare-necked Umbrellabird – Endangered Endemic Costa Rica Bird”

  1. Steph

    Another facinating article and superb photos! Thanks, Max!

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