Because of their bright, beautiful colours, cotingas have been hunted by native and colonial peoples for their feathers, as well as for food.

[2] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.

[3] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.

Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Ampelis cayana and cited Brisson's work.

[6] The species is sexually dimorphic with the male being a bright turquoise-blue with a large deep wine-red throat and black to the wings, tail and back.