Paradise Riflebird
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| Ptiloris paradiseus Swainson, 1825 |
The Paradise Riflebird, Ptiloris paradiseus is a medium-sized, up to 30cm long, passerine bird of the Paradisaeidae family. The male is a black bird of paradise with an iridescent greenish blue crown, throat and central tail feathers. It has a black curved bill, black feet, dark brown iris and yellow mouth. The female is an olive brown bird with barred blackish below.
Endemic to eastern Australia, the Paradise Riflebird is distributed to rainforests of New South Wales and central Queensland. The diet consists mainly of insects and fruits.
In displays, the male extends his wings and fans them upward with its head behind the wings to expose his metallic green throat feathers. He then moves his head from side to side with open bill to show off his bright yellow mouth.
The Paradise Riflebird 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). Ptiloris paradiseus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
