Real birds of paradise

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Real birds of paradise
Stephanie's Paradise Magpie (Astrapia stephaniae), portrayed by Richard Bowdler Sharpe

Stephanie's Paradise Magpie ( Astrapia stephaniae ), portrayed by Richard Bowdler Sharpe

Systematics
Subclass : New-jawed birds (Neognathae)
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Corvoidea
Family : Birds of Paradise (Paradisaeidae)
Subfamily : Real birds of paradise
Scientific name
Paradisaeinae
Vigors , 1825

The actual birds of paradise (Paradisaeinae) are a subfamily of the birds of paradise (Paradisaeidae) and count among the passerine birds (Passeriformes). The 36 species of this subfamily, which are divided into eleven genera, occur mainly in New Guinea and adjacent islands and archipelagos . In many species, the males have a colorful plumage with partly intensely shiny areas and an elongated middle pair of control feathers. In contrast to the species of Phonygamminae , the second subfamily of the birds of paradise, the species of this subfamily are polygynous , that is, the male mates with as many females as possible. The females raise the offspring alone. The males have a sometimes very conspicuous courtship, in which the elongated feathers of the tail plumage, the chest or the sides of the body play a role. The gender dimorphism is usually very pronounced. Only in the two Paradigalla species is it limited to a size difference between males and females.

Most bird of paradise species are classified as not endangered. Are most vulnerable species, namely blue bird-of-paradise , broad tail Paradieshopf and lavender bird of paradise belong to the subfamily of authentics birds of paradise. They are classified as endangered ( vulnerable ) by the IUCN .

features

All species have ten arm swings and 12 control springs . The majority of them also have small, forward-facing feathers on the base of their beak, which cover the nostrils. The smallest species of the actual birds of paradise is the king's bird of paradise, in which the adult females often weigh only 38 grams and the males without the elongated middle control spring pair reach a body length of 16 centimeters. The broad-tailed paradise hop, as the largest species, has a body length of more than one meter with its greatly elongated tail plumage, its comparatively long neck and beak. Despite this height, they weigh an average of only 227 grams.

In many species, the males have highly modified feathers that play a role in courtship. Particularly noticeable are the flank springs, which are greatly lengthened in a number of species, the greatly lengthened and often wire-shaped middle control spring pair and the strongly iridescent feathers on the chest and head. The latter shimmer in a color spectrum from green, blue-green to magenta, depending on the incidence of light. At least one species, namely the thread hop , also has a shade of yellow that is influenced by its diet. In the type specimens of this species kept in museums, the flank plumage no longer shows this intense yellow tone. It immediately fades to a whitish tone after the bird dies. The specific epithet melanoleuca indicates this. It means black and white.

In addition to the ornamental plumage, the legs, eyes, the featherless head and the inside of the beak are often colored in a strikingly bright color. The conspicuously yellow and waxy-feeling facial lobes of the Paradigm species are found in both sexes and even the nestlings already have them. The same applies to the different coloration of the inside of the beak, which can be found among other things in species of the Reifel birds , all species of the genus Epimachus and in the bird of paradise . In the adult males, however, the color is more luminous. The inside of the beak of the pennant bearer is bright aquamarine green and is presented to the female during courtship. The iris coloration of the individual species is very different and changes in species such as the magnificent bird of paradise with increasing age. As a rule, however, both sexes have the same iris color. Only in the broad-tailed paradise hop do the males have a red iris, while the females have a brown one. The beak is black in the vast majority of species. The exceptions include the sickle tails, the thread hop and the ribbon bird of paradise and most of the species that belong to the genus of the actual birds of paradise .

Distribution area and habitat

New Guinea, main distribution area of ​​the subfamily

Actual birds of paradise are limited in their distribution to Australasia . The majority of the species is distributed in New Guinea and islands immediately adjacent to the coast of New Guinea. A few species, such as the lavender bird of paradise, are island endemics. There are only three species of avifauna in Australia : There are the Victoria , the magnificent and the shield bird of paradise . They belong to the birds of paradise whose way of life has been well researched.

The distribution areas of the individual species are often small and occasionally limited to individual mountain ranges. An example of a species with such a small range is the long-tailed paradigalla . It occurs only in the Arfak Mountains in the northeast of the New Guinean Vogelkop peninsula. There is another Paradigalla population in the Fakfak Mountains on the Fakfak Peninsula at the western southern end of the island of New Guinea, which was previously assigned to this species. In the meantime, however, it has been assumed that this population is a species of the genus Paradigalla that has not yet been scientifically described and is limited to this mountain range .

In contrast to most families of passerine birds, the species do not occur in a wide range of habitats , but are rather limited in their habitat to rainforests and similar dense vegetation types. This also applies to the three species occurring in Australia, where the predominant habitats are light forest areas, savannas and deserts.

Way of life

Actual birds of paradise are mostly in the treetops and eat fruits and invertebrates. The share that the two nutritional components have in meeting the nutritional requirement varies from species to species, but most species are dominated by fruit. Some species have long, slightly curved beaks that are cleverly used to inspect palm crowns, knotholes, and tree bark for invertebrates.

The males are polygynous , which means that they mate with as large a number of females as possible. The partners do not enter into a marriage-like relationship after the pairing, but separate again immediately afterwards. The females build the nest on their own and raise the offspring on their own.

Genera and species

Short-tailed Paradigalla ( Paradigalla brevicauda )
Pennant bearer
Thread hop

The following species belong to the subfamily of True Birds of Paradise:

The Helena bird of paradise , which has long been classified as an independent species, is now a subspecies of the blue-naped bird of paradise and is accordingly listed as Parotia lawesii helenae .

literature

  • Michael Apel, Katrin Glas, Gilla Simon (eds.): Natural and cultural history of the birds of paradise. Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-035219-5 .
  • Brian J. Coates: The Birds of Papua New Guinea. Volume 2, Dove Publications, 1990, ISBN 0-9590257-1-5 .
  • Clifford B. Frith, Bruce M. Beehler : The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-854853-2 .
  • Clifford B. Frith, Dawn W. Frith: Birds of Paradise. Nature, Art, History. Frith & Frith, Malanda, Queensland 2010, ISBN 978-0-646-53298-1 .
  • PJ Higgins, JM Peter, SJ Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Volume 7: Boatbill to Starlings. Part A: Boatbill to Larks. Oxford University Press, Melbou.
  • Eugene M McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006, ISBN 0-19-518323-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on the Lavender Bird of Paradise , accessed October 29, 2017.
  2. ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on the Blue Paradise Bird , accessed October 29, 2017.
  3. ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. P. 22.
  4. ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. P. 9.
  5. ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. P. 7.
  6. ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. P. 24.
  7. ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. P. 438.
  8. ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. P. 241.
  9. ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. P. 25.
  10. ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. P. 6.
  11. ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World for the Langschwanaz Paradigalla , accessed on October 28, 2017.

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