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Paradisaea rudolphi

Paradisaea rudolphi , Photo: Michael Lahanas

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Classis: Aves
Subclassis: Carinatae
Infraclassis: Neornithes
Parvclassis: Neognathae
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Parvordo: Corvida
Superfamilia: Corvoidea
Familia: Paradisaeidae
Genus: Paradisaea
Species: Paradisaea rudolphi
Subspecies: P. r. ampla - P. r. margaritae - P. r. rudolphi

Name

Paradisaea rudolphi (Finsch & A.B. Meyer, 1885)

Reference

Zeitschrift Für Die Gesammte Ornithologie. 2 p.385 pl.20

Vernacular names
Internationalization
Deutsch: Blauparadiesvoge
English: Blue Bird-of-paradise
日本語: アオフウチョウ
Lietuvių: Mėlynasis rojaus paukštis
Suomi: Siniparatiisilintu

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The Blue Bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea rudolphi, is a medium-sized, approximately 30 cm long, black bird-of-paradise with a bluish-white bill, dark brown iris, grey legs, broken white eye-ring and bright blue wings. The male is adorned with violet blue and cinnamon flank plumes and two long ribbon-like tail feathers. The female has a chestnut brown below.

The Blue Bird-of-paradise is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is distributed to mountain forests of southeastern New Guinea. ITIS recognizes only one subspecies, but additional subspecies margaritae and ampla have been described.
The male is polygamous and performs a breathtaking courtship display. But unlike all other Paradisaea species, he performs solitary with attending female nearby. In display, the male hangs from a branch upside down. The black oval with red margin at the centre of his chest is rhythmically enlarged and contracted. His violet blue plumes spread out in a fan, swaying its body back and forth while the central tail feathers form two impressive arches down to either side. Throughout his performance he vocalizes softly in a low but harsh vibrating voice.

Regarded by some ornithologists as the loveliest of all birds, the Blue Bird-of-paradise was discovered by Carl Hunstein in 1884. The scientific name commemorates the ill-fated Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria.

Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range, small population size and hunting in some areas for its highly prized plumes, the rare Blue Bird-of-paradise is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

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Source: Wikispecies, Wikipedia: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License