Splendid astrapia

The splendid astrapia (Astrapia splendidissima) is a species of Astrapia of the birds-of-paradise family, Paradisaeidae, and one of the least known and most elusive of its family and genus.

Splendid Astrapia
Male (front) and female (rear).

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paradisaeidae
Genus: Astrapia
Species:
A. splendidissima
Binomial name
Astrapia splendidissima

Etymology

The Splendid Astrapia's generic name is Astrapia, which is of the word "Astraipios", meaning lightning flash or glare, referring to the brilliant iridescent plumage of the Astrapias. Its specific name, "splendidissima", means "most splendid", again referring to this particular astrapia's splendid colors. In the past, the splendid astrapia has been placed in its own genus (though very briefly), Calastrapia, which means "beautiful astrapia".

Description

medium-sized, approximately 39 cm long, black bird-of-paradise with an iridescent yellow-green mantle, blue-green throat, dark green below and short, broad and black-tipped white tail feathers. The female has a brown plumage and dark head.

This poorly known species is distributed to the mountain forests in western part of the central highlands of New Guinea. Its diet consists mainly of fruit, insects, lizards and frogs.

Widespread and common species throughout its range, the splendid astrapia is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1] It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Astrapia splendidissima". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)


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