Arfak Astrapia
Encyclopedia
The Arfak Astrapia, Astrapia nigra is a large, approximately 76 cm long, black bird of paradise with an iridescent purple, green and bronze plumage. The male has a very long broad tail, velvety black breast feathers and extremely complex head plumage. The female is a blackish brown with pale barring on its abdomen.
Levaillant
of France
described this bird as L’Incomparable or Incomparable Bird of Paradise.
An Indonesia
n endemic
, the Arfak Astrapia is restricted to the Arfak Mountains
in Vogelkop Peninsula, West Papua. The diet consists mainly of pandanus
fruits.
In the wild, the bird has hybridised with the Black Sicklebill
creating offspring that were once considered a distinct species, the Elliot's Sicklebill Epimachus ellioti. While some ornithologists still believe that this bird is a distinct species, possibly critically endangered or even extinct, many now think it was a hybrid between the two species.
Protected by its geographical isolation and undisturbed forests home, the Arfak Astrapia is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.
Levaillant
François Le Vaillant
François Levaillant or Le Vaillant was a French author, explorer, naturalist, zoological collector, and noted ornithologist.-Biography:...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
described this bird as L’Incomparable or Incomparable Bird of Paradise.
An Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n endemic
Endemism in birds
An endemic bird area is a region of the world that contains two or more restricted-range species, while a "secondary area" contains one or more restricted-range species. Both terms were devised by Birdlife International....
, the Arfak Astrapia is restricted to the Arfak Mountains
Arfak Mountains
The Arfak Mountains are a mountain range found on the Bird's Head Peninsula in the Province of West Papua, Indonesia. The mountain range is rugged and remote, rising up to 7,700 feet above sea level...
in Vogelkop Peninsula, West Papua. The diet consists mainly of pandanus
Pandanus
Pandanus is a genus of monocots with about 600 known species. They are numerous palmlike dioecious trees and shrubs native of the Old World tropics and subtropics. They are classified in the order Pandanales, family Pandanaceae.-Overview:...
fruits.
In the wild, the bird has hybridised with the Black Sicklebill
Black Sicklebill
The Black Sicklebill, Epimachus fastuosus, is a large bird of paradise of midmountain forests of New Guinea. The male has black plumage with an iridescent green, blue and purple scale-like feathers, red iris, bright yellow mouth, long curved black bill, huge sabre-shaped tail and large erectile...
creating offspring that were once considered a distinct species, the Elliot's Sicklebill Epimachus ellioti. While some ornithologists still believe that this bird is a distinct species, possibly critically endangered or even extinct, many now think it was a hybrid between the two species.
Protected by its geographical isolation and undisturbed forests home, the Arfak Astrapia is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.