Ribbon-tailed astrapia

Ribbon-tailed astrapia

Juvenile male yet to develop tail feathers, Enga Province
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Paradisaeidae
Genus:	Astrapia
Species:	A. mayeri
Binomial name
*Astrapia mayeri* Stonor, 1939

The ribbon-tailed astrapia, also known as Shaw Mayer's astrapia (Astrapia mayeri), is a species of bird-of-paradise.

The ribbon-tailed astrapia is distributed and endemic to subalpine forests in western part of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea. Like many other ornamental birds-of-paradise, the male is polygamous. The ribbon-tailed astrapia is the most recently discovered bird-of-paradise.

Due to habitat lost and hunted for its plumes, the ribbon-tailed astrapia is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.^[1] It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

The scientific name commemorates the great naturalist and New Guinea explorer Fred Shaw Mayer, who was believed to have discovered the bird in 1938. However, it is now believed that explorer Jack Hides discovered the bird, while Mayer became interested in it later.^[2]

Description

Male with long tail feathers

The ribbon-tailed astrapia is medium-sized, up to 32 cm long (without including the tail of the male, which can be over 1 metre). The body is velvet black. The male has an iridescent olive green and bronze plumage, and is adorned with ornamental "ball" plume above its bill and two extremely long, ribbon-like white tail feathers. The female is a brown bird with an iridescent head. Hybrids between this species and the Stephanie's astrapia, in the small area where their ranges overlap, have been named Barnes' astrapia.

One of the most spectacular birds-of-paradise, the male ribbon-tailed astrapia has the longest tail feathers in relation to body size of any bird, over three times the length of its body.

References

1 2 BirdLife International (2012). "Astrapia mayeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
↑ Chandler, David; Couzens, Dominic (2008). 100 Birds to See Before You Die: The Ultimate Wish List for Birders Everywhere. ISBN 978-1-59223-958-0.

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet

Birds-of-paradise (family: Paradisaeidae)

Genera and species

Genus	Species

Lycocorax	Paradise-crow

Manucodia	Glossy-mantled manucode Jobi manucode Crinkle-collared manucode Curl-crested manucode Trumpet manucode

Paradigalla	Long-tailed paradigalla Short-tailed paradigalla

Astrapia	Arfak astrapia Splendid astrapia Ribbon-tailed astrapia Princess Stephanie's astrapia Huon astrapia

Parotia	Western parotia Queen Carola's parotia Bronze parotia Lawes's parotia Eastern parotia Wahnes's parotia

Pteridophora	King of Saxony bird-of-paradise

Lophorina	Superb bird-of-paradise

Ptiloris	Magnificent riflebird Growling riflebird Paradise riflebird Victoria's riflebird

Epimachus	Black sicklebill Brown sicklebill

Drepanornis	Black-billed sicklebill Pale-billed sicklebill

Cicinnurus	Magnificent bird-of-paradise Wilson's bird-of-paradise King bird-of-paradise

Semioptera	Standardwing

Seleucidis	Twelve-wired bird-of-paradise

Paradisaea	Lesser bird-of-paradise Greater bird-of-paradise Raggiana bird-of-paradise Goldie's bird-of-paradise Red bird-of-paradise Emperor bird-of-paradise Blue bird-of-paradise

Incomplete list of likely hybrid birds-of-paradise

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