Raggiana bird-of-paradise

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Raggiana bird-of-paradise
Raggiana bird of paradise.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paradisaeidae
Genus: Paradisaea
Species:
P. raggiana
Binomial name
Paradisaea raggiana
Paradisaea apoda Distribution CB001.png
  Paradisaea raggiana
   Paradisaea apoda
Synonyms

Gerrus paradisaea [2]

The Raggiana bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea raggiana), also known as Count Raggi's bird-of-paradise, is a large bird in the bird-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae.

Contents

It is distributed widely in southern and northeastern New Guinea, where its name is kumul. It is also known as cenderawasih. As requested by Count Luigi Maria D'Albertis, the epithet raggiana commemorates the Marquis Francesco Raggi of Genoa.

The Raggiana bird-of-paradise is the national bird of Papua New Guinea. In 1971, this species, as Gerrus paradisaea, was made the national emblem and was included on the national flag. [2] "The Kumuls" ("birds-of-paradise" in Tok Pisin) is also the nickname of the country's national rugby league team.

Description

Flag of Papua New Guinea, which features the bird Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg
Flag of Papua New Guinea, which features the bird

The Raggiana bird-of-paradise is 34 centimetres (13 in) long. Its overall colour is a maroon-brown, with a greyish-blue bill, yellow iris and greyish-brown feet. The male has a yellow crown, dark emerald-green throat and yellow collar between the throat and its blackish upper breast feathers. It is adorned with a pair of long black tail wires and large flank plumes. The male has the long tail feather while the female does not. The female is a comparatively drab maroonish-brown bird. The ornamental flank plumes vary from red to orange in color, depending on subspecies. The nominate subspecies, P. r. raggiana, has the deepest red plumes, while the subspecies P. r. augustavictoriae of northeast New Guinea, also known as the Empress of Germany's bird of paradise, has apricot-orange plumes.

Behaviour

Diet

Its diet consists mainly of fruits and arthropods. The species is an important seed disperser of some fruiting trees in New Guinea, and is for some species of mahogany and nutmeg the main fruit disperser. [3]

Breeding

The breeding system of the Raggiana bird-of-paradise is polygamy. Males congregate in leks (display arenas for visiting females). Leks can be 30–100 meters in diameter. Within the lek there is a group of tall slender trees on which males compete for prominent perches and defend them from rivals. On these perches males do a display which involves clapping wings and shaking the head. [4] The nest is a bowl-shaped structure composed of leaves and leaf pieces, stems, ferns and other plant fibres. It is lined with horsehair-like material and is situated 2–11 m above the ground on tree branches. The position of the nest may be higher in areas where humans disturb the nest. The female usually lays a clutch of one to two (usually two) pinkish buff eggs. The incubation period has been recorded as 18 days in the wild and 20 days in captivity. As in all polygamous birds-of-paradise, the female alone assumes all incubation duties. [5]

Like others of its family, the male has elaborate breeding plumage used to impress females. Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise wild 5.jpg
Like others of its family, the male has elaborate breeding plumage used to impress females.

Status and conservation

Widespread and common throughout the tropical forests of eastern New Guinea, the Raggiana bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [1] It is listed on Appendix II of CITES. Even though the plumes of this species are heavily cropped by natives for ceremonial headdresses, the practice is not a threat to their long-term survival.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bird-of-paradise</span> Family of birds of the order Passeriformes

The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Australia. The family has 45 species in 17 genera. The members of this family are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of the species, the majority of which are sexually dimorphic. The males of these species tend to have very long, elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings, tail, or head. For the most part, they are confined to dense rainforest habitats. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and to a lesser extent arthropods. The birds-of-paradise have a variety of breeding systems, ranging from monogamy to lek-type polygamy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue bird-of-paradise</span> Species of bird

The blue bird-of-paradise is a large species of bird-of-paradise. It is the only species in the genus Paradisornis, but was previously included in the genus Paradisaea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red bird-of-paradise</span> Species of bird

The red bird-of-paradise, also called the cendrawasih merah, is a bird-of-paradise in the genus Paradisaea, family Paradisaeidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King of Saxony bird-of-paradise</span> Species of bird

The King of Saxony bird-of-paradise is a bird in the bird-of-paradise family (Paradisaeidae). It is the only member of the genus Pteridophora. It is endemic to montane forest in New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King bird-of-paradise</span> Species of bird

The king bird-of-paradise is a passerine bird of the Paradisaeidae (bird-of-paradise) family. It is considered by the IOC checklist to be the only member of the genus Cicinnurus, although the genus Diphyllodes is closely related and is subsumed under Cicinnurus by many other authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnificent bird-of-paradise</span> Species of bird

The magnificent bird-of-paradise is a species of bird-of-paradise. The magnificent bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are listed in Appendix II of CITES.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater lophorina</span> Species of bird

The greater lophorina, also known as superb bird-of-paradise or greater superb bird-of-paradise, is a species of the Paradisaeidae (bird-of-paradise) family. It was considered the sole species in the genus until in 2017 it was recognised that there were three species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater bird-of-paradise</span> Species of bird

The greater bird-of-paradise is a bird-of-paradise in the genus Paradisaea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser bird-of-paradise</span> Species of bird

The lesser bird-of-paradise is a bird-of-paradise in the genus Paradisaea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MacGregor's honeyeater</span> Species of bird

MacGregor's honeyeater, also known as giant wattled honeyeater, MacGregor's giant honeyeater, MacGregor's bird of paradise, and ochre-winged honeyeater, is a large black crow-like bird with large orange-yellow eye-wattles and black-tipped, ochre primary wing feathers. The sexes are similar, with the male being slightly larger than the female. It is the only member of the genus Macgregoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spotted catbird</span> Species of bird

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.

<i>Ptiloris</i> Genus of birds

The genus Ptiloris consists of four allopatric species of birds in the family Paradisaeidae. These birds of paradise are commonly known as riflebirds, so named for the likeness of their black velvety plumage to the uniform of the Rifle Brigade. Alternatively, the bird's cry is similar to a rifle being fired and hitting its target but a call like this is not commonly reported. They are distributed in the rainforests of New Guinea and Eastern Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empress of Germany's bird of paradise</span> Subspecies of bird

The Empress of Germany's bird of paradise, Paradisaea raggiana augustavictoriae, is a large, up to 34 cm long, maroon brown bird in the family Paradisaeidae, one of three families of birds known as birds of paradise. The male has a dark emerald green throat, yellow crown, pale brown below and narrow yellow throat collar. It closely resembles the crimson-plumed Raggiana bird-of-paradise, but has apricot orange rather than crimson flank plumes. The female is an overall brown bird with yellow head and dark brown face.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buff-breasted paradise kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The buff-breasted paradise kingfisher is a bird in the tree kingfisher subfamily, Halcyoninae. It is native to Australia and New Guinea. It migrates in November from New Guinea to its breeding grounds in the rainforest of North Queensland, Australia. Like all paradise kingfishers, this bird has colourful plumage with a red bill, buff breast and distinctive long tail streamers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papuan mountain pigeon</span> Species of bird native to New Guinea and eastern Indonesia

The Papuan mountain pigeon is a species of bird in the pigeon family, Columbidae. It is found in the Bacan Islands, New Guinea, the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, and the Bismarck Archipelago, where it inhabits primary forest, montane forest, and lowlands. It is a medium-sized species of pigeon, being 33–36 cm (13–14 in) long and weighing 259 g (9.1 oz) on average. Adult males have slate-grey upperparts, chestnut-maroon throats and bellies, whitish breasts, and a pale grey terminal tail band. The lores and orbital region are bright red. Females are similar, but have grayish breasts and grey edges to the throat feathers.

The red satinbird, commonly known as antenna satinbird or crested cnemophilus and formerly known as the sickle-crested bird-of-paradise, is a subspecies of bird in the family Cnemophilidae. It was formerly placed in the bird-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae until genetic work proved it was unrelated to those birds. It is found in the Bird's Tail Peninsula, Papua New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melampitta</span> Family of birds

The melampittas are a family, Melampittidae, of New Guinean birds containing two enigmatic species. The two species are found in two genera, the greater melampitta in the genus Megalampitta and the lesser melampitta in the genus Melampitta. They are little studied and before being established as a family in 2014 their taxonomic relationships with other birds were uncertain, being considered at one time related variously to the pittas, Old World babblers and birds-of-paradise.

Blood's bird-of-paradise, also known as Captain Blood's bird-of-paradise, is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae that is a hybrid between a raggiana bird-of-paradise and blue bird-of-paradise. It is named after Captain N.B. Blood who obtained the specimen through his travels in the East.

Gilliard's bird-of-paradise is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae that is a hybrid between a raggiana bird-of-paradise and lesser bird-of-paradise. It is known from adult male specimens taken in the upper Baiyer Valley in Papua New Guinea. It was named after American ornithologist Ernest Thomas Gilliard by Clifford Frith and Bruce Beehler.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2018). "Paradisaea raggiana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22706253A130413724. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22706253A130413724.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Peter Ryan, ed. (1972). Encyclopaedia of Papua and New Guinea. Vol. 3 (3rd ed.). Melbourne University Press in association with the University of Papua and New Guinea. pp. 5–6. ISBN   0-522-84025-6.
  3. ↑ Beehler, BM; JP Dumbacher (1996). "More Examples of Fruiting Trees Visited Predominantly by Birds of Paradise". Emu. 96 (2): 81–88. doi:10.1071/mu9960081.
  4. ↑ Frith, C.B. (1981). "Displays of Count Raggi's Bird-of-Paradise Paradisaea raggiana and congeneric species". Emu. 81 (4): 193–201. doi:10.1071/MU9810193.
  5. ↑ Davis Jr., William E.; Bruce M. Beehler (1994). "Nesting Behavior of a Raggiana Bird of Paradise". The Wilson Bulletin. 106 (3): 522–530.
  6. ↑ Frith, C.B (1981). "Displays of Count Raggi's Bird-of-Paradise Paradisaea raggiana and congeneric species". Emu. 81 (4): 193–201. doi:10.1071/MU9810193.
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