Social behavior of the Guianan cock‐of‐the‐rock ( Rupicola rupicola ) in captivity

The lek‐breeding Guianan cock‐of‐the‐rock, Rupicola rupicola , has been infrequently maintained in North American zoos in recent years. Successful captive breading has not been reported, although the closely related Rupicola peruviana has rarely reproduced in captivity. It has been suggested that male‐male competition may be important for stimulating mating behavior in lek‐breeding species [Alcock, 1979]. However, zoos have not typically housed multiple male cocks‐of‐the‐rock with females and successful breeding of R. peruviana has occurred with paris [Berry et al., 1982]. In the present study, 2.1 R. rupicola were maintained together in a free‐flight, naturalistic exhibit at the Kansas City Zoo. Male‐male and male‐female interactions were observed over an 8‐week period during the initial introduction. Based on comparisons with field studies, it was concluded that (1) one male quickly established dominance over the other male, (2) although establishment of well‐defined territorial leks was not observed, several major components of lek displays were seen, and (3) the femal showed no difference in her interactions with either male during the study period. Unfortunately, due to the untimely death of the birds, it could not be determined whether the observed behavior may have eventually led to successful mating.