Red Bird of Paradise
Encyclopedia
Red Bird-of-paradise is a bird-of-paradise in the genus Paradisaea
Paradisaea
The genus Paradisaea consists of seven species of birds-of-paradise . The genus is found on the island of New Guinea as well as the nearby islands groups of the Aru Islands, D'Entrecasteaux Islands and West Papua Islands. The species inhabit a range of forest types from sea level to mid-montane...

, family Paradisaeidae.

Description

Large, up to 33 cm long, brown and yellow with a dark brown iris
Iris (anatomy)
The iris is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupils and thus the amount of light reaching the retina. "Eye color" is the color of the iris, which can be green, blue, or brown. In some cases it can be hazel , grey, violet, or even pink...

, grey legs and yellow bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...

. The male has an emerald green face, a pair of elongated black corkscrew
Corkscrew
A corkscrew is a kitchen tool for drawing stopping corks from wine bottles. Generally, a corkscrew consists of a pointed metallic helix attached to a handle. The user grips the handle and screws the metal point into the cork, until the helix is firmly embedded, then a vertical pull on the...

-shaped tail wires, dark green feather pompoms above each eye and a train of glossy crimson red plumes with whitish tips at either side of the breast.
The male measures up to 72 cm long, including the ornamental red plumes that require at least six years to fully attain. The female is similar but smaller in size, with a dark brown face and has no ornamental red plumes. The diet consists mainly of fruits, berries and arthropods.

Distribution

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 Red Bird-of-paradise is distributed to lowland rainforests of Waigeo
Waigeo
Waigeo is an island in West Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi, or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, between Halmahera and about 65 km to the northwest coast of New Guinea...

 and Batanta
Batanta
Batanta is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Papua province, Indonesia. Its area is 453 km² and its highest point is 1184 m.- Fauna :The following mammals are found on the island:...

 islands of Raja Ampat, West Papua. This species shares its home with another bird-of-paradise, the Wilson's Bird-of-paradise. Hybridisation between these two species is not recorded but is expected because it is recorded for many other birds of paradise.

In popular culture

  • The Red Bird-of-paradise is depicted on the front side of 1992 edition of Indonesia 20000 Rupiah banknote.

External links

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