Demography and Populations

Female Long-tailed Manakins reach sexual maturity in their first year, although the earliest recorded mating and nesting was of a two-year-old, and they mate each year (Foster 1976, McDonald 1993). Males do not reach sexual maturity until their definitive plumage has developed in their fifth year (Foster 1987). Males have low reproductive success early in life, as even beta males rarely or never mate. Males reach beta status at around 8 years (although it has been observed of males as young as 4; see McDonald and Potts 1994) and alpha status at 10 to 12 years. Thus males mate much later in life (McDonald 1989a, McDonald 1993). McDonald (1993) estimaged the annual survival rates of Long-tailed Manakins by marking birds and recapturing them in later years; birds that were not sighted or recaptured in the seven-year study period were assumed to be dead. For young males (males still in predefinitive plumage) the survival rate was 0.68 (n = 96, SD 0.06). For older males the survival rate was 0.78 (n = 46, SD 0.03) and for females it was 0.76 (n = 140, SD 0.04). The lifespan of the Long-tailed Manakin is unknown. It is likely to be longer than 12 years, and the oldest documented bird was at least 18 years of age (McDonald 2007).

Nothing is known about diseases that affect the Long-tailed Manakin. Three species of chewing lice (Ricinus invadens, Myrsidea andyolsoni, and a previously undescribed Tyranniphilopterus species) have been reported on wild birds (Sychra et al. 2010), but otherwise no body parasites have been recorded or described.