Arfak Astrapia
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| Astrapia nigra (Gmelin, 1788) |
The Arfak Astrapia, Astrapia nigra is a large, up to 76cm long, black bird of paradise with an iridescent purple, green and bronze plumage. The male has a very long broad tail, velvety black breast feathers and extremely complex head plumage. The female is a blackish brown with pale barring on its abdomen.
Levaillant of France described this bird as L’Incomparable or Incomparable Bird of Paradise.
An Indonesian endemic, the Arfak Astrapia is restricted to the Arfak Mountains in Vogelkop Peninsula, West Irian Jaya. The diet consists mainly of pandanus fruits.
In the wild, the bird has hybridised with the Black Sicklebill creating offspring that were once considered a distinct species, the Elliot's Sicklebill Epimachus ellioti. While some ornithologists still believe that this bird is a distinct species, possibly critically endangered or even extinct, many now think it was a hybrid between the two species.
Protected by its geographical isolation and undisturbed forests home, the Arfak Astrapia is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Astrapia nigra. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a lengthy justification of why this species is of least concern
