Scarlet-horned Manakin

Locally fairly common but easily missed; the most reliably encountered of the tepui manakins along La Escalera. Vocal males at leks are the easiest way to find it — quiet birds otherwise melt into the understory.

Adult male unmistakable: entirely glossy black body with a brilliant scarlet head and neck, plus elongated, slightly upcurved hindcrown feathers forming the two namesake 'horns'; red thighs flashed in display. Female/immature plain olive-green, paler below — separated from other tepui manakins mainly by range, size and the dull olive uniformity.

Humid foothill and lower-montane forest and mature secondary woodland on tepui slopes, ~500-1,800 m. Forages and leks at low to mid levels inside shady forest interior.

Lekking. Males perform a complex display: sliding backward along the perch, tail-flicking, rapid darting flights between perches, and conspicuous flashing of the red thighs on landing. Outside leks, solitary and inconspicuous; eats small fruit and arthropods at lower levels.

Mechanical wing-snap advertisement: an abrupt crackling 'P'R'ROP!' likened to an electric bug-zapper, plus squeaky metallic vocal calls 'squee-ke-Slick!', 'ee'Slick!' and 'Skip!'. Listen on Xeno-canto / Macaulay Library — search 'Ceratopipra cornuta' (18+ recordings on XC).

Stake out a known lek at first light and let the wing-snap 'zapper' note guide you in — track the sound to a low display perch rather than scanning blind. The flashing red thighs are the showstopper to set clients up for.