Magnificent bird of paradise
| Magnificent bird of paradise | ||||||||||||
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Adult male |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ptiloris magnificus | ||||||||||||
| ( Vieillot , 1819) |
The superb bird of paradise ( Ptiloris magnificus ) is a kind of the genus of ptiloris ( Ptiloris ) within the family of Paradiesvögel (Paradisaeidae). It is one of the few species of birds of paradise that not only belong to the avifauna of New Guinea, but also to the avifauna of Australia .
The magnificent bird of paradise lives in tropical rainforests, where it feeds on fruits and invertebrates . The magnificent, colorful and loud courtship takes place from the raised hide. The males spread their open wings wide to the side and move their head rhythmically back and forth. The females, which are much less conspicuous than the males and are difficult to spot in the treetops, mate only with a few dominant males. The female is solely responsible for building nests and raising young. There are two subspecies.
The species is classified as not endangered ( least concern ) by the IUCN .
features
With a body length of 26 to 34 centimeters, the magnificent bird of paradise is one of the large species of Reifel birds. Adult males reach an average body length of 31 centimeters and weigh between 143 and 230 grams. Females stay slightly smaller with an average body length of 28 centimeters. They weigh between 94 and 185 grams.
The tail plumage is between 9.2 and 11 centimeters in males and between 8.8 and 10.8 centimeters in females. The wings are short and round. They have a length of 18.2 to 20 centimeters for the males and a length of 14.7 to 16.5 centimeters for the females. In both sexes, the strongly built beak is slightly bent downwards, but in the females the curvature is somewhat more pronounced. There is a pronounced gender dimorphism . The tail plumage is short in both sexes compared to body size.
male
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The male has a black upper plumage, from which the metallic greenish to blue-greenish shiny cap stands out. It extends from the middle of the forehead over the crown to the nape of the neck. The rest of the head, the neck and the top of the body shimmer slightly purple when exposed to certain light.
The tail plumage has a metallic green to bluish-green sheen on the upper side, the feather edges and the tip of the tail shimmer metallic black. A large, roughly triangular, metallic blue-green shimmering spot extends from the center of the chin to the front chest. The feathers are elongated on the sides of the throat and are set up during courtship. A narrow black band runs down the middle of the chest, this is bordered at the bottom by a yellow-green shimmering band. The belly, the rump and the flanks are chestnut brown in the nominate form. The rump, in particular, has a striking shine. The feathers on the lower flanks are elongated and sometimes longer than the tip of the tail. The under tail cover is glossy black.
The beak is black and slightly shorter than that of the females. The beak angle is yellow and is always noticeable. The inside of the beak is pale yellow to greenish yellow, which can be clearly seen in calling birds. The iris is black-brown.
female
In the female, the dark olive-brown head cap extends from the forehead to the back of the neck. It has short isabel-colored lines. The cap is delimited on each side of the head by a long, narrow and whitish stripe over the eyes. A narrow, predominantly cream-colored orbital ring surrounds the eye and forms a small light spot above and below the eye. A narrow dark brown stripe begins at the base of the beak, runs over the eye and the ear covers and ends at the nape of the neck. This stripe is bordered by a whitish broad stripe of beard and a narrow black-brown stripe of beard. The chin and throat are creamy white to isabel in color. The lower region of the throat is spotted dark brown. The top of the body and the tail are olive-colored, the upper tail-coverts also have cinnamon-brown feather trims. The tail plumage is reddish-brown on the upper side.
The underside of the body is cream-white to isabel-colored with a thick black-brown transverse banding that widens towards the abdomen. The tail is olive brown on the underside.
The beak is black to gray-black. The iris is black-brown as in the male.
Fledglings
Fledglings resemble females in their first year and second year of life, regardless of gender. From the age of three, the subadult males gradually switch to the plumage of the adult males. They initially have a predominantly female plumage, but increasingly show parts of the body with the black plumage of the adult male.
Characteristics of the subspecies
The subspecies Ptiloris magnificus albert , which occurs on the Australian Cape York Peninsula , differs from the nominate form in that it has shorter wings and shorter legs. The beak is also more curved. The males have a gray-black underside of the body. The middle pair of control springs is slightly shorter.
Possible confusion
The magnificent bird of paradise can hardly be distinguished from any other bird species in its Australian range; In the humid rainforests of the Cape York Peninsula , it is the only bird of paradise. Even in poor light, it can be easily distinguished from other species due to its size and its comparatively narrow head, curved beak and short tail. The noise pitta , however, has a similar reputation as the magnificent bird of paradise.
In New Guinea, on the other hand, it can be confused with the Papuan bird of paradise , which belongs to the same genus. The male of the magnificent bird of paradise calls out a two- to four-syllable whoiiiet whoiiet , while the Papuan bird of paradise calls out a harsh, growling crrraiy-crrrow . On the other hand, when observing the field, the two species can hardly be distinguished. The splendid bird of paradise has a slightly longer beak, the elongated decorative feathers on the flanks are longer and, unlike the Papuan splendor bird, extend beyond the tail plumage.
Distribution area of the two subspecies and habitat
The magnificent bird of paradise is one of the birds of paradise with a very large distribution area: It extends from Vogelkop in western New Guinea to the tip of the southeastern peninsula. It is only absent in a few regions such as the forests of the Trans-Fly region and the savannah-like areas near the Digul River .
Two subspecies are distinguished for the magnificent bird of paradise:
- P. m. magnifica - (Vieillot, 1819) - Occurrence in the west and central area of New Guinea. The distribution area extends from the large Vogelkop peninsula in the west of New Guinea to Wewak in the northeast. In southeast New Guinea, this subspecies occurs as far as the Purari River .
- P. m. alberti - (Elliot, 1871) - Occurrences from Albany Island off the tip of the Cape York Peninsula and on the Cape York Peninsula. There the southern limit of distribution runs roughly at the level of the city of Weipa in the west of the peninsula and the McIlwraith Range in the east of the peninsula.
The magnificent bird of paradise inhabits tropical rainforests in the lowlands and foothills in its range. It is also found in gallery forests. The altitude distribution ranges from the lowlands to altitudes of 700 meters. Occasionally it has also been observed at an altitude of 1200 meters. Up to now there has been very little research into the migration behavior of the magnificent bird of paradise. Presumably they are resident birds .
food
Magnificent birds of paradise mainly eat invertebrates, but also fruit, and very rarely also seeds. Basically, feeding behavior has so far been little studied and more reports are available for the populations in New Guinea than for the population native to Australia. It is generally assumed that the proportion of insects and fruits will shift depending on their availability. Similar evidence has also been found for the closely related Victoria bird of paradise .
They find their food mainly in the middle to upper area of tree tops. The long beak is considered an adaptation that makes it easier for them to poke into the cortex and epiphytes. But they also use their strong feet to tear pieces of bark from tree trunks and secure them for insects underneath. They are extremely agile birds and climb tree trunks like tree creepers . They also hop from branch to branch while foraging. They usually look for food solitary, only very rarely are they socialized with other birds in fruit-bearing trees.
Reproduction
The males of the magnificent bird of paradise are polygynous , which means that they mate with several females. The female builds the nest alone, incubates the clutch on her own and raises the young birds on her own. The males woo the females by calling from certain fixed dance attendants and showing an elaborate courtship dance when a female approaches. The breeding season falls in the entire range from June to February.
Courtship
Only the males courted. Courting birds of paradise that wear the plumage of a female are not yet sexually mature males. A male who sees a female responds by pausing for a moment, then puts on plumage and sticks his head and beak towards the female. Typically, it then hops back and forth on its branch, accompanied by a short, rapid opening of the wings (so-called "wing flicks"). These hopping movements are interrupted by a brief sideways movement of the head, during which the male touches the underside of the wings with his beak. If the male approaches further, it turns the breast towards the female with its beak pointing vertically upwards and thus presents the metallic, shiny throat and breast spot. It twitches again and again with the whole body or both wings. This movement causes the incidence of light on the throat and chest patch to change, making it shimmer in a slightly different color.
In full courtship, the males suddenly stretch both wings to the side and begin to swing the still stretched beak alternately to the left and right side, so that it almost touches the wing edges. Immediately before this wing movement, they often open their beak and show their yellow beak inside. The tail plumage is slightly raised. Some males accompany the full courtship again with sideways hopping movements along the branch on which they are sitting. Often they approach the female in this way, but hopping movements have also been observed in which the female moved away from the male. The hopping movements are often synchronized with the head movement. Of the courtship displays of the magnificent bird of paradise observed until 2006, none of them subsequently mated with the female.
Nest, clutch, nestlings
On the Cape York Peninsula, nests have been found in the tops of screw trees and in basket ferns ( Drynaria ) that grow epiphytically on trees. The average height above the ground was four meters. The nests are built from leaves and the tendrils of creepers. The full clutch consists of two eggs. The skin color is pink-whitish with elongated brown and gray-purple spots. The incubation period is unknown. The female feeds the nestlings with insects. The length of time that the nestlings spend in the nest before they fly is not yet known.
Life expectancy
So far, there are only few data available for the life expectancy of the magnificent bird of paradise, as this species is only relatively rarely ringed. However, an adult female ringed in Kutini-Payamu National Park, Australia in 1990 was recaptured eight years and eleven months after ringing. The maximum lifespan of magnificent birds of paradise is therefore at least ten years.
Hybrids with other birds of paradise
The tendency of birds of paradise to cross with other species in their family was already described by Anton Reichenow at the beginning of the 20th century and thus almost earlier than for any other bird family. The magnificent bird of paradise is one of the species for which crosses with species of other genus within this family have been described several times. Most of the hybrids that are discovered are males - deviating plumage features are more noticeable in them than in the more inconspicuously colored females.
So far, 12 males have been identified as a cross between the magnificent bird of paradise and the Fadenhopf . They were originally classified as a species and either and scientifically described as Heteroptlorhis mantoui or Craspedophora bruyni . In the wild, males of the threadhopper have also been observed wooing the females of the magnificent bird of paradise. Several hybrids also come from crosses with the bird of paradise . A type specimen also shows that mating with the Little Bird of Paradise occurs. This cross was originally described as a separate species ( Janthothorax bensbachi ).
History of science
The magnificent bird of paradise is the first Reifel bird to be scientifically described. At first he was only known through bird hides, which had found their way into long-distance trade. A first description was made by François Levaillant in 1807, a second by Frédéric Cuvier in 1817. The first scientific description in the binary nomenclature that goes back to Carl von Linné was not until 1819 by Louis Pierre Vieillot . The species was originally assigned to the genus Epimachus , in the meantime placed in its own genus Craspedophora and then assigned to the genus of the actual birds of paradise . Today it is assigned to the Reifelvögel.
The first scientist to observe the magnificent bird of paradise in the wild was Alfred Russel Wallace in 1869 .
The polygyny of this species was discussed as early as 1901 after the scientist JA Thorpe observed a male courting in front of several females. The Australian naturalist Francis George Allman Barnard , who observed and examined more than 50 nests of this species on the Cape York Peninsula, confirmed this assessment, as he never observed a male near the nests. Today it is a certain fact that the female raises the nestling alone. The courtship has now been filmed several times.
Keeping in captivity
The London Zoo received a female of the magnificent bird of paradise on October 5, 1908. A little later this was supplemented by three pairs. The New York Zoological Society was one of the early keepers. As early as 1913, a privately kept female in Great Britain laid an egg, from which, however, no young bird hatched. The egg is now in the British Museum of Natural History .
Since the beginning of the 20th century, magnificent birds of paradise have been kept repeatedly in zoological gardens or private aviaries. The Weltvogelpark Walsrode kept a single male during the 1990s.
literature
- Bruce M. Beehler, Thane K. Pratt: Birds of New Guinea; Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2016, ISBN 978-0-691-16424-3 .
- Clifford B. Frith, Bruce M. Beehler : The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-854853-2 .
- PJ Higgins, JM Peter and SJ Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . Oxford University Press, Melbourne 2006, ISBN 978-0-195-55884-5 .
- Eugene M McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006, ISBN 0-19-518323-1 .
Web links
Single receipts
- ↑ a b c d e f Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 656.
- ↑ a b c d Handbook of the Birds of the World zum Prachtparadiesvogell , accessed on April 23, 2017
- ↑ a b c Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 654.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 318.
- ↑ a b c d e Beehler & Pratt: Birds of New Guinea . P. 425.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 316.
- ^ A b Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 655.
- ↑ a b c Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 317.
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 646.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 315.
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 658.
- ^ Higgins, Peter & Cowling: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds: Volume 7 Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks . P. 657.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 325.
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 326.
- ^ McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World . P. 228.
- ^ A b McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World . P. 231.
- ^ McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World . P. 230.
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 323.
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 327.