Princess Stephanie's astrapia

Princess Stephanie's astrapia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paradisaeidae
Genus: Astrapia
Species: A. stephaniae
Binomial name
Astrapia stephaniae
(Finsch & A.B. Meyer, 1885)

Princess Stephanie's astrapia (Astrapia stephaniae), also known as Stephanie's astrapia, is a species of bird-of-paradise. It is endemic to the mountain forests in central and eastern Papua New Guinea.

A common species throughout its range, Princess Stephanie's astrapia is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1] It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

Hybrids between this species and the ribbon-tailed astrapia, in the small area where their ranges overlap, have been named Barnes' astrapia.

History

Princess Stephanie's astrapia was discovered by Carl Hunstein in 1884. It was named in honor of Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, the wife of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, who was commemorated by the blue bird-of-paradise.

Description

Princess Stephanie's astrapia is a medium-sized, approximately 37 cm long, black bird-of-paradise with an iridescent blue-green and purple head, silky plumage below and two very long, broad purplish-black central tail feathers. The female is a dark brown bird with a bluish-black head and black-barred cinnamon-brown underparts.

Male (left) and female

Subspecies

  • Astrapia stephaniae ducalis
  • Astrapia stephaniae feminina
  • Astrapia stephaniae stephaniae

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2012). "Astrapia stephaniae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.


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