Astrapian sicklebill

Astrapian sicklebill
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paradisaeidae
Species: Astrapia nigra

x Epimachus f. fastuosus
Synonyms
  • Epimachus astrapioides Rothschild, 1897
  • Astrapimachus astrapioides

The astrapian sicklebill, also known as the green-breasted riflebird, is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae that believed to be an intergeneric hybrid between an Arfak astrapia and black sicklebill. This explanation was proposed by Erwin Stresemann who used the same explanation for the Elliot's bird of paradise. The two forms are substantially different and the latter's validity is still under question.

History

Only one adult male specimen of this hybrid is known, held by the American Museum of Natural History, and presumably deriving from the Vogelkop Peninsula of north-western New Guinea.[1]

Notes

  1. Frith & Beehler (1998), p.507.

References