Great Bowerbird
Chlamydera nuchalis
Large and noisy bowerbird. Bright pink crest can be raised and lowered. Primarily gray brown with white scalloping on the back. Females are smaller and may lack the pink crest. Males create a very large bower out of twigs and grasses; it is then decorated with small objects, which are often red, green, or white. Found in northern Australia, usually in dry woodlands.
Identification
The great bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) is a common and conspicuous resident of northern Australia, from the area around Broome across the Top End to Cape York Peninsula and as far south as Mount Isa and Townsville. Favoured habitat is a broad range of forest and woodland, and the margins of vine forests, monsoon forest, and mangrove swamps. As with most members of the bowerbird family, breeding considerations dominate the lifecycle: females nest inconspicuously and raise their young alone, while the males spend most of the year building, maintaining, improving, defending, and above all displaying from their bowers. Only a male with a successful bower can attract mates. The great bowerbird is the largest of the bowerbird family and is 33 to 38 cm long and fawny grey in colour. Males have a small but conspicuous pink crest on the nape of the neck.
Taxonomy
Genus: Chlamydera; Family: Ptilonorhynchidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Chlamydera nuchalis
- Authority
- (Jardine & Selby, 1830)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ptilonorhynchidae
- Genus
- Chlamydera
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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