The Andean Cock of the Rock, Rupicola peruviana, is a shy, brilliantly-colored scarlet or orange-colored passerine that is found in the cloud forests of Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador. It is approximately 12.5 inches long. The male of the species possesses a large, unusually-shaped crest on the top of its head, and, as in most bird species, is more colorful than the female. The male’s wings and tail are black and gray scapulars.  The female is browner and darker in color and has a smaller crest. The Andean Cock of the Rock is the national bird of Peru.
The Andean Cock of the Rock is characterized by his unique mating dance, performed in a lek. A word of Swedish origin, meaning “play,” a lek is a convocation of the males of particular animal species that gather together to perform a mating display.  In the case of the Cock of the Rock, as many as twenty males may be seen performing at one lek ground. This mating display is performed in the treetops and on the ground, in the hopes of attracting and mating with willing females. The males will defend the territory of their lek area from other males. The months that see the most of this activity are September, October and November.
The Andean Cock of the Rock’s mating dance consists of flapping the wings vigorously, ceremonial bowing and hopping, and bizarre-sounding calls that can be heard from great distances away, which, attracts predators that sometimes take advantage of the situation to catch a meal. These are generally birds of prey, jaguars and pumas. In some cases, boa constrictors have been known to hunt the Andean Cock of the Rock.
The females build shallow nests out of plants and mud on the sides of rock cliffs, steep gorges, caves and walls.  Several females may construct their nests in close proximity. The typical brood is of one to two nestlings. The nests are incubated for 28 days. The males are polygamous and do not help in the rearing of the young.
The Andean Cock of the Rock is mainly a fruit-eating bird. It tends to swallow most of the seeds of the fruits it ingests whole. They then pass through the body of the bird and are eliminated onto the ground unharmed. This has been shown to be an influential factor in the type of flora found near lek grounds and nesting grounds of these birds. In fact, the bird plays an important role in scattering the seeds of many diverse species of forest plants, which leads to their regeneration. As many as 35 different species of plants have been found under the nests of the Andean Cock of the Rock. Also, this creates plant communities around the nest and lek sites that differ in species from the forest regions they are found in.  

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