From Feathers, a Violin
 A Club-winged Manakin makes a unique courtship sound when he flips his wings up behind his back. Illustration by Kimberly Bostwick |
Most frogs, birds, and mammals communicate by vocalizing: moving air over specialized structures in their respiratory systems to croak, sing, howl, or--in the case of humans--speak in words. Some vertebrates use other sounds too: whistling, clapping, drumming, or rattling, for example. The rattlesnake sends a threatening message by rattling its tail; a Ruffed Grouse produces a dull thudding sound with its wings to court a mate; and a woodpecker drums out its territorial signal on a hollow snag. Examples of special whistling sounds made by feathers include the winnowing display of a snipe and the tinkling notes of a displaying woodcock.
Birds often use their wings and other body parts to make sounds, but the planet's
preeminent wing-popping,
-clicking, -snapping, and -rattling birds are small, colorful manakins that
live in tropical forests from Mexico to Argentina. About 40 species
of Neotropical manakins (Pipridae) live in these forests, and 20 make nonvocal sounds, or sonations.
Male manakins take the prize for the most diverse and interesting nonvocal
sounds produced in the bird world.
However, even among manakins, one species stands out: the Club-winged Manakin
(Machaeropterus deliciosus), the only bird that uses its feathers as a violin. In 2005, Kimberly Bostwick and Richard Prum of Yale University published a paper in which they proposed an explanation of how this species
makes a uniquely tonal sound with a small set of specially shaped feathers
(Science, July 29, 2005).