Crested Satinbird
Cnemophilus macgregorii
A fairly large, colorful bird of upper montane forest. Plump with a rather square-shaped head. Male has a blue eye, black underparts and an indistinct crest on the forehead. Upperparts are bright yellow in the southeast, and bright scarlet in the rest of the range. Female is olive green with orange-brown wing and tail. Male is unmistakable. Female is similar to but larger than female Loria’s Satinbird and has a pale gray eye. Also similar to but smaller than the female MacGregor’s Bowerbird and more greenish than brown. Male gives a rasping growl and has audible wingbeats.
Identification
The crested satinbird is around 24 cm (9.4 in) in overall length and weighs 79–125 g (2.8–4.4 oz). The male of the nominate subspecies has bright yellow upperparts with a small erectile crest of 4 to 6 sickle-shaped dark-buff feathers that are usually concealed. The lores and underparts are a brownish black. The female is plain olive brownish above and light brownish below. The adult male of subspecies sanguineus differs from the nominate in having red dorsal plumage. These birds make harsh rasping calls and a low hissing.
Taxonomy
The crested satinbird was formally described in 1890 by the English zoologist Charles Walter De Vis from a specimen that had been collected on Mount Knutsford near Mount Victoria in Papua New Guinea. He coined the binomial name Cnemophilus macgregorii. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the British colonial governor of New Guinea, William MacGregor.<p>The crested satinbird was formerly placed in the bird-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae with the English name "crested bird-of-paradise".<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Cnemophilus macgregorii
- Authority
- De Vis, 1890
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cnemophilidae
- Genus
- Cnemophilus
Range and habitat
They are found in the mountains of eastern and southeastern New Guinea. The habitat is upper montane and subalpine forest where there is dense vegetation.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The crested satinbird eats only fruits which are plucked and eaten whole without any manipulation using the feet. <p>The breeding season is from August to January. The nest is built by the female and is placed 2–4 m (6 ft 7 in – 13 ft 1 in) above the ground on a branch of a tree. The nest has a globular shape with an entrance hole at the side. The clutch is probably only a single egg which hatches after an incubation period of at least 19 days.
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
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