Macgregor's Bowerbird
Encyclopedia
The Macgregor's Bowerbird, Amblyornis macgregoriae is a medium-sized, up to 26 cm long, olive brown bowerbird
of New Guinea
's mountain forests, roughly the size and shape of a robin. The male is adorned with an erectile orange yellow crest, that is partly hidden until shown in courtship display. The unadorned female is similar to the male, but without the crest. Superb mimics, they are known for imitating other birds, pigs, rushing water, and even human speech.
The polygamous male builds a tower-like "maypole-type" bower
, with a central pole of twigs surrounded by a dish of moss with raised walls approximately 1 meter in diameter. He decorates the twigs of the maypole with flowers, fruits, insects and other objects. The diet consists mainly of fruits and insects. Bowerbirds are positioned roughly in the middle of the continuum of the "transfer effect
" phenomenon observed among the different bowerbird species, whereby brilliant plumage evolves to more drab colors, while ornamentation is "transferred" to the behavior of creating elaborate bowers to demonstrate robust health instead.
When a female comes in proximity to the bower, the male struts and calls, and opens his crest to display its full color. Hiding the crest except during sexual display is thought to minimize his vulnerability to predators.
Widespread and common throughout its range, the Macgregor's Bowerbird is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species.
Bowerbird
Bowerbirds make up the bird family Ptilonorhynchidae. The family has 20 species in eight genera. These are medium-sized passerines, ranging from the Golden Bowerbird to the Great Bowerbird...
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...
's mountain forests, roughly the size and shape of a robin. The male is adorned with an erectile orange yellow crest, that is partly hidden until shown in courtship display. The unadorned female is similar to the male, but without the crest. Superb mimics, they are known for imitating other birds, pigs, rushing water, and even human speech.
The polygamous male builds a tower-like "maypole-type" bower
Bower
Bower may refer to:* a folly built by the Bowerbird to attract mates; see wiktionary:bower.* a dwelling or lean-to shelter, also known as an arbor* an anchor carried at the bow of a ship* Bower Manuscript, a Sanskrit manuscript...
, with a central pole of twigs surrounded by a dish of moss with raised walls approximately 1 meter in diameter. He decorates the twigs of the maypole with flowers, fruits, insects and other objects. The diet consists mainly of fruits and insects. Bowerbirds are positioned roughly in the middle of the continuum of the "transfer effect
Transfer effect
The transfer effect is a term used in ornithology to describe the phenomenon observed among the bowerbirds, in which there is a continuum from physically more ornamented species which construct rudimentary bowers , to physically drabber species which construct remarkably elaborate and colorful...
" phenomenon observed among the different bowerbird species, whereby brilliant plumage evolves to more drab colors, while ornamentation is "transferred" to the behavior of creating elaborate bowers to demonstrate robust health instead.
When a female comes in proximity to the bower, the male struts and calls, and opens his crest to display its full color. Hiding the crest except during sexual display is thought to minimize his vulnerability to predators.
Widespread and common throughout its range, the Macgregor's Bowerbird 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.