Andean Cock of the Rock

While in Mindo we hired a birding guide, the only way to see the Andean Cock of the Rock -- Steve calls it the Sean Connery bird.  We met William at 5AM, drove 20 minutes out of town to private property, walked a  mountain path in the dark for about 30 minutes and arrived at a blind in front of the lekking area.  Soon there was a rustling, and then the noise: a screeching, screaming, cawing that rose and fell, ended with a question mark close, and began again.  And then another voice entered, and another and another and another.  There were 5-6 of these cocks (about 12") working it -- yelling, screeching, questioning, jumping and flitting around, mostly out of sight but only about 30 feet away -- an ungodly racket.  They did this for an impressive hour, then apparently went off for breakfast.  These boys do this every day of the year to keep up the skills, to be ready for the 20 days or so when it’s important, when the ladies are interested and come to see, judge and make their choices among the biggest, flittiest, loudest cocks of the rocks.   

The photo below is the best of my bunch, the one that follows is from the web. Their head feathers make them look beakless, but their beaks are tiny and yellow, in the normal place, hidden from sight by their massive head feathers, but open for the mighty, unsettling, impressive sounds to come out.