Radiation paradise birds
| Radiation paradise birds | ||||||||||||
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Arfak's ray of paradise ( Parotia sefilata ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Parotia | ||||||||||||
| Vieillot , 1816 |
The radiation paradise birds ( Parotia ) are a genus from the family of the birds of paradise (Paradisaeidae) and includes five species . All species occur exclusively in higher mountain areas in New Guinea. The males of all species have plumage that is partly iridescent and also three elongated ornamental feathers on each side of the head, which are used, among other things, for courtship. The females, on the other hand, are much less conspicuous in color with their predominantly brownish plumage.
Of the five species, only the population of the crazy bird of paradise is classified as near threatened by the IUCN . It occurs in a narrow strip of coastal mountain ranges along the northeast coast of New Guinea, which is comparatively densely populated. The remaining species are classified as least concern . The least researched species so far is the Berlepsch bird of paradise . The species was in 1897 by the German ornithologist Otto Kleinschmidt basis of two male bellows from the collection of Count Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch described . It occurs exclusively in a remote mountain range in New Guinea and was only rediscovered in 1985.
description
Body type and measurements
Radiation paradise birds reach a body length between 25 and 43 centimeters. The largest species is the mad bird of paradise . The males of this species reach a body length of 43 centimeters. The tail plumage is tiered. The middle pair of control feathers, which protrudes beyond the rest of the tail plumage, reaches a length of 20 to 22.5 centimeters. The rest of the tail plumage is between 15.9 and 19.8 inches long. The females, on the other hand, remain slightly smaller with a body length of 36 centimeters. Their tail plumage is also tiered. The middle and longest pair of control springs are between 16.1 and 17.5 centimeters long. The rest of the tail plumage is between 14 and 16.4 inches long. This difference in size is more common in this species: on average, the females are around 10 percent smaller than the males. The beak is about half the length of the head and is comparatively narrow and short. The wings are rounded and comparatively long. In the two outermost hand wings, the inner vane is barely developed, the ninth hand wing, on the other hand, tapers off.
The iris is blue in four species with a yellow outer ring. Only in the Carola's bird of paradise is the iris completely yellow.
plumage
The tail plumage is strongly to barely tiered. The species with a strongly tiered tail plumage include the mad and arfak bird of paradise . In the case of the blue-naped bird of paradise it is only slightly graduated, while in the case of the Carola bird of paradise and the Berlepsch bird of paradise the tail plumage ends in an almost straight line.
The males generally have velvety black plumage with a narrow band of highly iridescent feathers on the neck. Only in the Carola's bird of paradise does the male also have a brownish plumage. Behind each eye, at the level of the ear covers, there are feather ears made of elongated, pointed feathers. Three of the feathers on each side of the head are strongly elongated like a wire and end in small, almost round ovals. This feature can be found in all radiation paradise birds and has given the genus its German name. They also have small tuffs of pop-up feathers above the nostrils or on the front forehead that either have silvery tips or are completely silvery. The feathers of the breast plumage are very large and scale-shaped. They are very iridescent in bronze to magenta tones. The Carola's bird of paradise, which differs from the other species in the basic tone of its plumage, also has whitish feathers that are elongated on the flanks.
The females are much less conspicuous in color. They are dominated by muted brown tones. The head is usually a little darker and can even be blackish. On the underside of the body they are cross-banded brown and whitish.
distribution and habitat
Radiant paradise birds occur exclusively in New Guinea, the second largest island in the world after Greenland . The size of their respective distribution area differs very strongly.
The Berlepsch bird of paradise, long thought to be lost, was rediscovered in 1985 by the American scientist Jared Diamond in the Foja Mountains . This mountain range has an area of 9712 square kilometers and is considered to be the largest, as yet undeveloped or explored tropical rainforest in the Asia-Pacific region. The slopes of the mountains are sometimes extremely steep, which makes settlement or commercial wood use difficult in this region. The Arfak bird of paradise occurs exclusively on the Vogelkop and the Wandammen Peninsula in western New Guinea and thus also has a comparatively small distribution area. The distribution area of the mad bird of paradise is in eastern New Guinea. It is limited to a narrow strip of coastal mountain ranges on the north coast. The range includes the Saruwaged and Finisterre Mountains as well as the Adelbert and Rawlinson Mountains .
On the other hand, the distribution areas of the blue-necked and Carola's bird of paradise are significantly larger. The blue-naped bird of paradise is limited to eastern New Guinea. According to current knowledge, the Owen Stanley Mountains represent the southwestern limit of distribution of this species. From there, the distribution area extends over the Bismarck Mountains and Mount Hagen to the mountains on the eastern tip of New Guinea. In the western part of the distribution area, the distribution area of the Blue-Necked Bird of Paradise overlaps with that of the Carola Bird of Paradise . The distribution area of the subspecies-rich Carola Bird of Paradise extends over the mountain ranges in the interior of New Guinea - it is only missing on the Vogelkop and the area that belongs to Papua Barat . It occurs from the Weyland Mountains in an easterly direction to Mount Giluwe , the Bismarck Mountains and the Hagen Mountains . The height distribution ranges from 1100 to 2000 meters. It is most often found in altitudes between 1450 and 1800 meters. In the east of the distribution area (Bismarck Mountains, Hagen Mountains, Owen-Stanley Mountains) their distribution area overlaps with that of the Blue-necked Bird of Paradise .
The habitat of all radiation paradise birds is mountain forest. The males tend to stay in the forest interior more than the females.
Way of life and reproduction
The nutritional composition of the so far little researched bird of paradise is not yet known. However, like the other species, it probably lives mainly on fruits and arthropods.
Like the overwhelming number of birds of paradise, the rays of paradise are also polygynous , which means that the male mates with several females if possible. The respective female raises the offspring alone. The males balzen mainly on the ground and each have Balzplätze that in some species in a manner to leaves birds is purified reminiscent of leaves and other organic material. The courtship grounds of the Blaunacken Paradise are very close to one another. In other species they are more evenly distributed in the respective range.
In all of the species examined in more detail, the males show very collaborative courtship dances. The courtship elements include, among other things, jumping back and forth to the side or shuffling, hopping on the spot, in which they turn so that they look in the opposite direction and rhythmic head movements that make the long decorative feathers vibrate as well . One of the best-known courtship elements of this species of birds of paradise is the ballerina pose, in which the male sits up high and rests the elongated chest and flank feathers so far that they close over the back and thus completely envelop the body. This pose is known as the ballerina pose because the ruffled feathers wrap the body in a manner reminiscent of a ballerina's tutu .
The females alone take care of building the nest, breed alone and then raise the offspring alone.
species
The genus includes six species:
- Berlepschparadiesvogel ( Parotia berlepschi )
- Carola ray of paradise ( Parotia carolae )
- Blue- necked bird of paradise ( Parotia lawesi )
- Arfak's ray of paradise ( Parotia sefilata )
- Wahnesparadiesvogel ( Parotia wahnesi )
- The Helena bird of paradise , long classified as an independent species, is now a subspecies of the blue- naped bird of paradise and is accordingly listed as Parotia lawesii helenae .
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. Most of the hybrids that are discovered are males - deviating plumage features are more noticeable in them than in the more inconspicuously colored females. Deviating from a female has been scientifically described, consisting of a junction of the neck Blue Bird of Paradise with the Blue Bird of Paradise emerged. Similarly, a female Radiant Bird of Paradise, which emerged from a cross of the Carola Bird of Paradise with the Collared Bird of Paradise , was initially classified as a female of the Carola Bird of Paradise in the 1920s. It was later classified as a subspecies of the frilled bird of paradise. Since the 1990s it has been certain that it is a hybrid between the Carol and the collar bird of paradise.
The discovery of these hybrids occasionally means that they were initially described as a separate species. The Loborhampus ptilorlus described on a single type specimen is definitely a cross between the long-tailed paradigalla and the Arfak-ray bird of paradise . The Parotia duivenbodei is also a cross between the Arfak ray bird of paradise and the collar bird of paradise .
Dedication names
- The German name and the specific epithet of the Carola bird of paradise honor Carola von Wasa-Holstein-Gottorp , the last queen of Saxony.
- The name of the Helena bird of paradise ( Parotia lawesi helenae ), a subspecies of the blue-naped bird of paradise, honors Helena of Great Britain and Ireland , the third daughter of Queen Victoria .
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 .
- Otto Kleinschmidt: Parotia berlepschi . In: Journal for Ornithology (= 5 ). tape 45 , no. 2 , 1897, p. 174–178 ( online [accessed January 18, 2015]).
- Eugene M McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006, ISBN 0-19-518323-1 .
Web links
Single receipts
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World zum Wahnesparadiesvogel , accessed on July 24, 2017
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 294.
- ↑ Otto Kleinschmidt, p. 178.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 300.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 293.
- ↑ a b Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 277.
- ↑ Lost Worlds Of West Papua Reveal More Surprises . Retrieved July 28, 2017.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 284.
- ↑ Frith & Beehler: The Birds of Paradise - Paradisaeidae . P. 299.
- ↑ Handbook of the Birds of the World on the Blue Breast Paradise Elster , accessed on July 13, 2017
- ^ McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World . P. 228.
- ^ McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World . P. 231.
- ^ A b McCarthy: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World . P. 230.