Manakins are neotropical birds with a polygynous mating system where males aggregate in a specific area (lek) to court females, and direct aggressive interactions are rarely seen. As such, manakins are often considered non-territorial. Moreover, in some manakins species, males form coalitions with other males to perform coordinated courtship displays. While existing research has explored these social coalitions and cooperative behavior in manakins, the behavioral response to territorial intrusions by novel males is not well understood. To understand territorial behavior in manakins, we challenged territorial males to simulated territorial intrusions. We conducted these challenges in two species on manakins that differ in their social systems. First, we investigated the wire-tailed manakin ““Pipra filicauda”“, where males perform cooperatively coordinated displays with other males and queue for future territorial positions. Subsequently, we investigated the red-capped manakin ““Ceratopipra mentalis”“, which has no cooperative behavior, but males can approach other males to share perches and display little aggression. We tested aggression in these two species by introducing a taxidermic mount intruder onto a territorial male and quantifying the individual’s behavioral response. While males of both species responded aggressively to the territorial intrusion, we found no significant differences in the aggression scores between the species. We concluded that while manakins’ social organization includes a high tolerance to neighbor males, and in some species, males even cooperate, aggression and territoriality are still present, at least in these two species.