Gallo de la Peña

What draws people to any given site? Generally, there is something of interest. For me, Ecuador and the other parts of South America we will visit are just plain different and that is the primary allure. I’m not in search of anything in particular, mostly a sense of what else the world has to offer.

For others, the draw is very specific. For example, those who are interested in traditional medicine may travel to meet with the shamans of various indigenous communities, in order to learn about their natural remedies.

Here at La Hesperia, there are many reasons people arrive and spend time: some to gain a greater connection to the land, others to learn about conservation efforts in the cloud forest, and others still that come specifically to see the sights.

One such sightis the lek of the Gallo-de-la-Peña(in English, Cock-of-the-Rock). A Gallo-de-la-Peñais a rather large bird, approximately 30-45 cm tall. The birdmakes its home in ravines, at cave entrances and against rock walls (hence Cock-of-the-Rock). Their nests are generally associated with forested streams because the females use mud and saliva to attach the nests to a rocky substrate.

Because of their frugavore diet, they are found in areas with a high concentration of protein-rich fruit such as aguacatillo, a tiny relative of the aguacate (avocado). Interestingly, because their digestion process does not include the breakdown ofseeds, the seeds pass through the bird’s digestive tract and plant themselves in the soil below the birds’ homes. As a result, the plant communities associated with Gallo-de-la-Peñaare comprised mostly of their preferred food sources and are significantly different than that of the surrounding forest.

Gallo-de-la-Peñaarealso sexually dimorphic, meaning that size and color differs between males and females. For example, the male bird is deep red and the female bird is dark brown. The males are a more brilliant color, similar to many other birds, in order to attract a female counterpart.

Something particularly interesting about Gallo-de-la-Peña is the way the males congregate in large groups to compete for the companionship of the female. This is a communal courtshipritual called a “lek” (pronounced lake). In the lek, which takes place in a wide open space, separate from the nesting site, the males provide wild shows of their beauty and song, at times coming to blows in order to prove their superiority over one another. The lekking behavior of the Gallo-de-la-Peñais not reserved for one time per year. In fact, lekking happens rather frequently in December and March with a period of decline in February. Each time they congregate, they do so in the same place, similar to the way some animals return each year to a specific and defined breeding ground.

Here on La Hesperia property Gallos-de-la-Peña have been spotted, though the leksite has yet to be seen. Because of the desire to study leksamong bird-enthusiasts, this could be an especially lucrative draw for La Hesperia, helping to further finance their sustainability efforts.