King Bird of Paradise
Encyclopedia
The King Bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus regius is a small, approximately 16 cm long, passerine
bird of the Paradisaeidae (Bird-of-paradise) family. The male is a crimson
and white with bright blue feet and green-tipped fan-like plumes on its shoulder. The two elongated tail wires are decorated with emerald green disk feathers on its tip. The unadorned female is a brown bird with barring below.
The King Bird-of-paradise is distributed throughout lowland forests of New Guinea
and nearby islands. This so-called "living gem
" is the smallest and most vividly colored among birds of paradise. The diet consists mainly of fruits and arthropods.
An extraordinary display is performed by the male with a series of tail swinging, fluffing of its abdomen
white feathers that makes the bird look like a cottonball, and acrobatic pendulum
displays.
Widespread and a common species throughout its large habitat range, the King Bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird of the Paradisaeidae (Bird-of-paradise) family. The male is a crimson
Crimson
Crimson is a strong, bright, deep red color. It is originally the color of the dye produced from a scale insect, Kermes vermilio, but the name is now also used as a generic term for those slightly bluish-red colors that are between red and rose; besides crimson itself, these colors include...
and white with bright blue feet and green-tipped fan-like plumes on its shoulder. The two elongated tail wires are decorated with emerald green disk feathers on its tip. The unadorned female is a brown bird with barring below.
The King Bird-of-paradise is distributed throughout lowland forests of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and nearby islands. This so-called "living gem
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
" is the smallest and most vividly colored among birds of paradise. The diet consists mainly of fruits and arthropods.
An extraordinary display is performed by the male with a series of tail swinging, fluffing of its abdomen
Abdomen
In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...
white feathers that makes the bird look like a cottonball, and acrobatic pendulum
Pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...
displays.
Widespread and a common species throughout its large habitat range, the King Bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.