Western parotia
| Western parotia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Paradisaeidae |
| Genus: | Parotia |
| Species: | P. sefilata |
| Binomial name | |
| Parotia sefilata (Pennant, 1781) | |
The western or Arfak parotia (Parotia sefilata), is a medium-sized, approximately 33 cm long, bird-of-paradise with a medium-length tail.
Description
Like other birds-of-paradise, the western parotia is sexually dimorphic. The male has black plumage with an iridescent structurally coloured golden-green breast shield and triangular silver feathers on its crown. It is adorned with elongated black plumes at the sides of the breast and three erectile spatulate head wires behind each eye. As with most member in the family, the female is unadorned and has brown plumage.[2] The species is similar to Lawes's parotia (Parotia lawesii).
Distribution
Endemic to Indonesia, the western parotia is found only in the mountain forests of Vogelkop and the Wandammen Peninsula of Western New Guinea.[2]
Behaviour
In courtship display, the male performs a ballerina-like dance with its elongated black plumes spread around skirt-like, right below the iridescence breast shield. During the spectacular dance, he shakes his head and neck rapidly to show the brilliance of his inverted silver triangle-shaped head adornment to attending females.
The nest is built and attended by the female alone. The species is polygynous.[2]
The diet consists mainly of fruits such as figs, and arthropods.[2]
Status
A widespread and common species throughout its range, the western parotia is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1] It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 BirdLife International (2012). "Parotia sefilata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Hugill, Michael (2011). Western Parotia. Australian Museum.
External links
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