Victoria's Riflebird
Ptiloris victoriae
Large songbird with long decurved bill. Male almost completely black, with green and blue metallic sheen on belly, throat, and crown. Female brown above, buff below, with a sparse scaly pattern on chest and belly and a pale eyebrow. Inhabits rainforest and nearby drier forest in northern Queensland (i.e., around Cairns). Call a loud explosive hiss, often repeated. Males display from a prominent upright stump or snag, holding wings high above the head, flashing bright yellow gape, bobbing, raising wings individually, and swaying.
Identification
The smallest riflebird, it measures between 23–25 cm. Males have an iridescent purple sheen plumage, which becomes more blue-green on the head and more bronze on the lower breast. The throat is velvety black with a metallic green and blue triangular patch in the center. Females have a pale eyebrow, and the buff underparts are faintly barred with brown.
Taxonomy
The Victoria's riflebird was discovered by John Macgillivray for John Gould in 1848 and is named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. The common name "riflebird" comes from the likeness of their black velvety plumage to the uniform of the British Army Rifle Brigade.
- Scientific name
- Ptiloris victoriae
- Authority
- Gould, 1850
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paradisaeidae
- Genus
- Ptiloris
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
When the male begins to display, he erects the feathers of his throat and sides to accentuate the bright colours of his plumage in the shafts of sunlight that pierce the dimness of the rainforest. He curves his rounded wings above his body and tilts his head back to expose his chin and throat to the light, and then moves from side to side in a fashion that looks almost mechanical.<p>The female is attracted to the male's display post by his raspy 'yaars' call, which becomes softer and more tuneful during the display.<p>The pair then face each other closely, and each bird raises and extends its wings forward alternately in an increasingly rapid rhythm. Finally the male embraces the female with both wings, and copulation ensues.<p><p>As well as insects, they eat fruits from the trees, some which they peel by holding the fruit with one foot and removing the skin with their bill.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Fulvous-crowned Scrub-Tyrant
Euscarthmus meloryphus
Very small grayish-brown flycatcher. Note dull buffy color around the eye and on the crown. Occurs in dry areas and pastures with scattered trees and bushes where it mostly forages near the ground and is typically difficult to spot. It is very noisy, emitting fast sputtering calls, sometimes in a duet. Disjunct range includes northern Venezuela and Colombia and eastern Brazil to Argentina.
Prairie Warbler
Setophaga discolor
Small warbler, yellow overall with black streaks on sides and unique face pattern. Upperparts are duller olive. Reddish streaks on back are distinctive, but can be difficult to see or absent on immatures. Long tail is often pumped up and down, but not as consistently as Palm Warbler. Forages for insects in a range of shrubby habitats, from cedar-studded fields to regenerating woods to mangroves in Florida. Winters in Florida and the Caribbean.
White-throated Caracara
Daptrius albogularis
Uncommon in southern Andes; range does not overlap with Mountain Caracara. Favors open habitats above treeline, but also ranges lower to scavenge at dumps and in farmland with open trees. Often associates with Chimango and Crested Caracaras at the dump outside Ushuaia, Argentina. Sails, soars, and tumbles easily on updrafts. Adult is handsome and strikingly patterned black-and-white with creamy white underparts and a bold white tail tip. Juvenile is rather similar to smaller Chimango Caracara, but distinguished by black (not pale) bill.
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