Red bird-of-paradise

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

This article is about the bird. For the plant, see Caesalpinia pulcherrima.

Red bird-of-paradise
Male (at Central Park Zoo, New York, NY, United States)
Female (at Jurong BirdPark, Singapore)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paradisaeidae
Genus: Paradisaea
Species:
P. rubra
Binomial name
Paradisaea rubra
Daudin, 1800

Description

Large, up to 33 cm long, brown and yellow with a dark brown iris, grey legs and yellow bill. The male has an emerald green face, a pair of elongated black corkscrew-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 Indonesian endemic, the red bird-of-paradise is distributed to lowland rainforests of Waigeo and Batanta 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.

  • The red bird-of-paradise is depicted on the front side of 1992 edition of Indonesia 20000 Rupiah banknote.
Red Bird-of-Paradise featured in 20,000-rupiah banknote.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Paradisaea rubra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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