Great bowerbird | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Ptilonorhynchidae |
Genus: | Chlamydera |
Species: | C. nuchalis |
Binomial name | |
Chlamydera nuchalis | |
The great bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) is a common and conspicuous resident of northern Australia, from the area around Broome across the Top End to Cape York Peninsula and as far south as Mount Isa. Favoured habitat is a broad range of forest and woodland, and the margins of vine forests, monsoon forest, and mangrove swamps.
As with most members of the bowerbird family, breeding considerations dominate the lifecycle: females nest inconspicuously and raise their young alone, while the males spend most of the year building, maintaining, improving, defending, and above all displaying from their bowers. Only a male with a successful bower can attract mates.[ citation needed ]
The great bowerbird is the largest of the bowerbird family and is 33 to 38 cm long and fawny grey in colour. Males have a small but conspicuous pink crest on the nape of the neck.
The bower is a twin-walled avenue-type bower approximately 1 metre long and 45 cm high. It is typically located under a shrub or leafy branch. The ends of the bower are scattered with white and green objects - stones, bones, shells and leaves and small man-made objects such as plastic and bottle caps. Within the bower itself, clear glass is sometimes placed.
Uniquely among bowerbirds, groups of young males will attend a single bower concurrently, "practising" their bower-building skills prior to establishing their own bower for mating purposes.[ citation needed ]
The males most often perform their display at the north platform of the north–south oriented bowers. During peak mating hours in the early morning, this orientation reflects the most light off of the male's bright lavender nuchal crest, showing off this impressive plumage. Usually the male will hold a colored object in his mouth while bobbing his head up and down during the display. [2]
The American goldfinch is a small North American bird in the finch family. It is migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canada–United States border to Mexico during the winter.
Bowerbirds make up the bird family Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where males build a structure and decorate it with sticks and brightly coloured objects in an attempt to attract a mate.
The golden pheasant, also known as the Chinese pheasant, and rainbow pheasant, is a gamebird of the order Galliformes and the family Phasianidae (pheasants). The genus name is from Ancient Greek khrusolophos, "with golden crest", and pictus is Latin for "painted" from pingere, "to paint".
The satin bowerbird is a bowerbird endemic to eastern Australia.
The Moluccan eclectus is a parrot native to the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot family for its extreme sexual dimorphism of the colours of the plumage; the male having a mostly bright emerald green plumage and the female a mostly bright red and purple/blue plumage. Joseph Forshaw, in his book Parrots of the World, noted that the first European ornithologists to see eclectus parrots thought they were of two distinct species. Large populations of this parrot remain, and they are sometimes considered pests for eating fruit off trees. Some populations restricted to relatively small islands are comparably rare. Their bright feathers are also used by native tribespeople in New Guinea as decorations.
The kori bustard is the largest flying bird native to Africa. It is a member of the bustard family, which all belong to the order Otidiformes and are restricted in distribution to the Old World. It is one of the four species in the large-bodied genus Ardeotis. In fact, the male kori bustard may be the heaviest living animal capable of flight.
The green catbird is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which sounds like a cat meowing, although it has also been mistaken for a crying child. The green catbird resembles the spotted catbird, which is found in wet tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland.
The Vogelkop bowerbird, also known as the Vogelkop gardener bowerbird, is a medium-sized, bowerbird of the mountains of West Papua.
The Guianan cock-of-the-rock is a species of cotinga, a passerine bird from South America. It is about 30 cm (12 in) in length and weighs about 200 to 220 g. It is found in tropical rainforests, near its preferred habitat of rocky outcrops. The female's plumage is brownish / dark smokey grey in colour, and generally less noticeable than the males because of their nesting work in rocky areas. The male's feathers are a bright orange. Both have a heavy body, broad-based bill and wear a remarkable half-moon crest on the head. It is one of two species of the genus Rupicola, the other being the Andean cock-of-the-rock. The Guianan cock-of-the-rock lives across the forested region of northeastern South America. Its diet consists mostly of fruit, but they sometimes feast on small snakes and lizards.
The golden bowerbird is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae, the bowerbirds. It is endemic to Queensland in Australia, where it is limited to the Atherton region.
The spotted catbird is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in north Queensland, the eastern Moluccas and New Guinea. Although it is a member of the bowerbird family it does not build a bower.
The flame bowerbird is one of the most brilliantly coloured bowerbirds. The male is a medium-sized bird, up to 25 cm long, with flame orange and golden yellow plumage, elongated neck plumes and yellow-tipped black tail. It builds an "avenue-type" bower with two side walls of sticks. The female is an olive brown bird with yellow or golden around the stomach.
MacGregor's bowerbird is a medium-sized, up to 26 cm long, olive brown bowerbird of New Guinea's mountain forests, roughly the size and shape of an American Robin or a Eurasian Blackbird. The male is adorned with an erectile orange yellow crest, that is partly hidden until shown in courtship display. The unadorned female is similar to the male, but without the crest. Superb mimics, they are known for imitating other birds, pigs, rushing water, and even human speech.
The tooth-billed bowerbird, also known as the stagemaker bowerbird or tooth-billed catbird, is a medium-sized bowerbird. It is a stocky olive-brown bird with brown-streaked buffish white underparts, grey feet, a brown iris and a distinctive serrated bill. Both sexes are similar, but the female is slightly smaller than the male. It is the only member of the genus Scenopoeetes.
The fawn-breasted bowerbird is a medium-sized, up to 32 cm (13 in) long, bowerbird with a greyish brown spotted white plumage, a black bill, dark brown iris, yellow mouth and an orange buff below. Both sexes are similar. The female is slightly smaller than the male.
The yellow-breasted bowerbird also known as Lauterbach's bowerbird, is a medium-sized, approximately 27 cm long, bowerbird with a brownish-olive upperparts plumage, grayish-yellow upper breast, coppery crown, dark brown iris, yellow underparts, a black bill and pinkish-orange mouth. Both sexes are similar. The female is duller than the male.
The spotted bowerbird is a sedentary, mid-sized passerine found across broad parts of the drier habitats of eastern Australia. The species is known for its remarkable behaviours, like many other bowerbirds (Ptilonorynchidae), which include bower building and decorating, courtship displays and vocal mimicry. Spotted bowerbirds are locally common, however, overall the population is thought to be in decline.
The western bowerbird is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae. The species is a common endemic of Australia. It has a disjunct distribution, occurring in Central Australia and the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The masked bowerbird is one of the most brilliantly coloured bowerbirds. The male is a medium-sized bird, up to 25 cm long, with flame orange and golden yellow plumage, elongated neck plumes and yellow-tipped black tail. It builds an "avenue-type" bower with two side walls of sticks. The female is an olive brown bird with yellow or golden below.