Trumpeters are crane-like birds belonging to the family Psophiidae and included in the only genus Psophia. They live in the Amazon basin. Such an unusual name was given to the call made by males, associated with the sound of the pipe.
The trumpeter is about the size of a chicken. The length of her body rarely exceeds 50 cm, and her weight approaches 1 kg. The head is small, the neck is elongated. The back is arched, the tail is shortened. The beak is short, curved down, sharp. A somewhat awkward look is given to it by rounded feathers. The legs are long with a high back toe.
The plumage color is dark, but the different color of the inner side of the wings caused them to be divided into three types: gray-backed trumpeter, green-winged trumpeter, white-winged trumpeter. Chicks of all species hatching have black-brown fluff, which only after 1.5 months will be replaced by a characteristic plumage.
The trumpeter reluctantly flies. She prefers to eat in the lower tier of the forest. Pieces of fruit, nuts dropped by monkeys, parrots and other inhabitants of the upper forest tiers, as well as various insects and their larvae make up her diet.
These birds are social in their way of life, they move in search offeeding in groups of up to 12 individuals. During the dry season, they can walk on the
a huge territory. Often there are meetings of relatives who run to each other as a whole group quickly and silently. Having approached, they make characteristic loud sounds, flap their wings, scream. The fight lasts until the weaker group runs away.
The groups of these birds have developed a hierarchy. A weaker individual crouches, approaching the dominant, and the latter slightly twitches its wings in response. The leader periodically demands food, which his subordinates willingly bring him. In their free time from searching for food, members of the group can arrange imaginary fights, flap their wings, and create imitation attacks. The trumpeter bird spends the night on a tree. At some intervals, the members of the group shout at each other, indicating that there is order on their territory.
In terms of social organization, the trumpeter bird differs from many representatives of birds. Their nature led to cooperative polyandry, i.e., the cohabitation of a dominant female with several strong males. With this way of life, the probability of saving offspring from predators increases significantly.
Approximately 60 days before the eggs are laid, courtship begins. A bird of the crane-like order is puzzled by finding a place for a nest. It, as a rule, settles on a fork of large branches or in a highly located hollow of a tree. Strong males begin to ritually feed the dominant female and dance in front of her. Between them there is a competitive struggle for the right to own. Having made a choice, the female turns her back, demonstrating her readiness for copulation.
There are about 3 eggs in a clutch. Periodic incubation is carried out by the female and all males of the group. This period lasts approximately 27 days. Hatched chicks at the initial stage are completely dependent on adults.
An interesting fact: the golden-breasted trumpeter, which lives in Africa, is capable of making sounds similar to drumming. Since it is easily tamed, the natives of those places began to use it as a watchdog.
