Flame Bowerbird

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iFlame Bowerbird
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Ptilonorhynchidae
Genus: Sericulus
Species: S. aureus
Binomial name
Sericulus aureus
Linnaeus, 1758

The Flame Bowerbird, Sericulus aureus is one of the most brilliantly colored bowerbird. The male is a medium-sized bird, up to 25cm long, with flame orange and golden yellow plumage, elongated neck plumes and yellow-tipped black tail. It builds an "avenue-type" bower with two side walls of sticks. The female is an olive brown bird with yellow or golden below.

The Flame Bowerbird is distributed and endemic to rainforests of New Guinea. This species is the first bowerbird described by naturalists. It was previously thought, based on male' beautifully colored plumage, is a bird of paradise.

There are two distinct subspecies of Flame Bowerbird, Sericulus aureus ardens from southwestern New Guinea with orange face male and the nominated form of northwestern New Guinea, Sericulus aureus aureus with black face and black throat male.

The Flame Bowerbird is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

[edit] References

  • BirdLife International (2004). Sericulus aureus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 1 November 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

[edit] External links