Velvety manakin

The velvety manakin (Lepidothrix velutina) is a species of bird in the family Pipridae. It is found from Costa Rica to Ecuador.^[1] Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.

Velvety manakin
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Pipridae
Genus:	Lepidothrix
Species:	L. velutina
Binomial name
Lepidothrix velutina (Berlepsch, 1883)

The velvety manakin was formerly considered to be conspecific with Lepidothrix coronata and together they were known under the common name "blue-crowned manakin". A study published in 2022 found that there were significant vocal and phylogenetic differences between the west of Andes taxa and those from the east of the Andes.^[2] The velvety manakin was therefore promoted to species status and the "blue-crowned manakin" renamed to the blue-capped manakin.^[1][3]