Wahnes's Parotia
Parotia wahnesi
A large, long-tailed bird of mid-montane forest canopy on the Huon Peninsular where the only parotia. Male is mainly black with an orange patch on the forehead, bronzy-scaled chest and 6 antennalike feathers projecting from the back of the head. Note the blue eye. The female is rufous-brown above with strongly barred underparts, black head and white bands through and below the eye. The male has an elaborate dance at a terrestrial display court. Female is somewhat similar to Greater Lophorina female but Wahnes’s is larger and longer-tailed. Voice, various rasps and parrotlike squawks.
Identification
The male has an iridescent yellow-green breast shield, elongated black plumes, three erectile spatule head wires behind each eye, coppery-bronzed nasal tuft feathers and long, wedge-shaped tail feathers. The female is a rich brown bird with blackish head. It is approximately 43 cm long.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Parotia wahnesi
- Authority
- Rothschild, 1906
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paradisaeidae
- Genus
- Parotia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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