Magnificent Riflebird
Ptiloris magnificus
Large songbird with a very long curved bill, found in rainforest on Cape York and in New Guinea. Males mostly black, with bright metallic blue metallic chest and crown and shaggy black flank plumes. Females brown above, pale with fine barred pattern below, strong white eyebrow, and brown moustachial mark. Call is a very three-note whistled phrase ("wee-oooo-whittt"), similar to the whistle humans use to say "come here!”
Identification
This riflebird is a medium-sized bird, being up to 34 cm long. The male is velvet-black bird-of-paradise with elongated black filamental flank plumes, an iridescent blue-green crown, a wide, triangle-shaped breast shield, and on central tail feathers. It has a black curved bill, yellow mouth, blackish feet and a dark brown iris. The female is brownish with dark spots and buff bars below with a white brow. The immature male resembles the male but with less tail plumes.
Taxonomy
The magnificent riflebird was formally described in 1819 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot under the binomial name Falcinellus magnificus. It is now placed in the genus Ptiloris that was introduced in 1825 by the English naturalist William Swainson. The common name "riflebird" comes from the likeness of their black velvety plumage to the uniform of the British Army Rifle Brigade.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Ptiloris magnificus
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1819)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paradisaeidae
- Genus
- Ptiloris
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The diet of the magnificent riflebird consists mainly of fruits and a variety of invertebrates such as spiders, millipedes, etc. Males are polygamous and perform solitary courtship displays on a 'dancing perch'. During these displays, the male fully extends his wings and raises his tail; he jerks upward while swinging his head from side to side, showing off his metallic blue-green breast shield, and producing a distinctive "woosh" sound as he flaps his wings. Multiple females will observe these displays, and, if satisfied with the performance, reward the male with mating rights. Females subsequently build nests, incubate, brood, and feed young without male assistance.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Hypocolius
Hypocolius ampelinus
A slender, pale gray bird with a short bill and a long black-tipped tail. The male has a black face. This distinctive species occurs in arid scrub, desert, and nearby farmlands. Usually found in small flocks, often seen feeding on fruiting trees and bushes. Calls include short, squeaky wails and whistles.
Ruddy Woodcreeper
Dendrocincla homochroa
Uncommon, medium-sized woodcreeper of humid tropical forest; rarely seen away from army ant swarms. Found singly or in twos and threes, often with Tawny-winged and Northern Barred Woodcreepers at army ant swarms. Mainly perches upright on slender trunks fairly low to the ground, less often at middle levels; often rather sluggish. Overall bright ruddy plumage in combination with behavior is distinctive; also note the pale grayish eyering. Usually rather quiet; at times gives plaintive mew calls and a chipping rattled song.
Gray-headed Tody-Flycatcher
Todirostrum poliocephalum
Tiny brightly-colored flycatcher with a fairly long pointed bill and an ample slender tail. Note the largely black head apart from a large yellow spot in front of the pale eye. Olive above and bright yellow below; the black wings are yellow edged . Similar to Common Tody-Flycatcher, but with yellow spots on the face. Found at the edge of forests, second growth, and in gardens and urban parks. The song is a sharp “tchip-tchip-tchip.”
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