Magnificent bird-of-paradise

Magnificent bird-of-paradise
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paradisaeidae
Genus: Diphyllodes
Species: D. magnificus
Binomial name
Diphyllodes magnificus
(Pennant, 1781)
Synonyms

Cincinnurus magnificus

The magnificent bird-of-paradise (Diphyllodes magnificus) is a species of bird-of-paradise.

The magnificent bird-of-paradise is distributed amongst the hill and mid-mountain forests of New Guinea and surrounding islands. Their diet consists mainly of fruits. Like most members of the family Paradisaeidae, the male is polygamous and performs an elaborate courtship display.

A widespread and common species throughout their large range, the magnificent bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are listed on Appendix II of CITES.

Description

The magnificent bird-of-paradise reaches a length of around 26 cm and has an extremely complex plumage. Males have seemingly incandescent yellow wings, an iridescent-green breast shield, blue feet, and an elegant yellow mantle on his neck. Males also have two long, curved, blue-green sickle-like tail feathers. Females are comparatively drab olive-brown birds with black-barred buffy underparts. They usually lay two creamy yellow eggs.

Subspecies

  • D. m. magnificus
  • D. m. chrysopterus
  • D. m. hunsteini

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Cicinnurus magnificus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.


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