The Arfak astrapia (''Astrapia nigra'') is a species of astrapia, a group of birds found in the '' Paradiseidae'' family of the birds-of-paradise. In the wild, the bird has hybridised with the

black sicklebill The black sicklebill (''Epimachus fastosus'') is a large member of the birds of paradise family, Paradisaeidae. This species is found throughout most of central New Guinea and the Vogelkop region to the northwest in montane forests at altitud ...

creating offspring that were once considered a distinct species, Elliot's sicklebill "''Epimachus ellioti"''. While some ornithologists still believe that this bird is a distinct species, possibly critically endangered or even extinct, many now think it was a hybrid between the two species.

Etymology

This scientific name, ''Astrapia nigra'', consists of the words "''astrapaios"'' meaning flashing or lightning, and "''nigra"'' meaning black. It was actually the first species of astrapia to be discovered, so the generic name was first assigned to this bird.

Conservation status

Protected by its geographical isolation and undisturbed forests home, the Arfak astrapia is evaluated as Least Concern on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

Description

The Arfak astrapia is the third largest of its genus, being approximately long, including the tail. The male has a black head with a bluish-purple sheen, or iridescence, an elongated jet-black nape crests extending up along the sides of the up to the eyes on each side, a shiny, metallic greenish-yellow cape from the mantle up to the nape, very black, dense and elongated upper breast feathers, and an almost exaggeratedly long tail almost two times the length of its body. The female is less appealing, being dark brown over most of its body and a blackish head, and sporting much shorter tail feathers. The female is also exceptionally shorter than the male. Levaillant of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

described this bird as ''L’Incomparable'' or Incomparable bird-of-paradise.

Ecology

The habits of the Arfak astrapia are very little known. The birds are found mostly in

cloud forests A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud ...

at at the apex of the

Arfak Mountains The Arfak Mountains is a mountain range found on the Bird's Head Peninsula in the Province of West Papua, Indonesia. The term "arfak" came from the language of the coastal Biak people, meaning "inferior." This is due to how big the mountains ar ...

. Foraging habits observed include the birds probing fruits, mostly pandanus fruits, off of moss and

epiphytes An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

in the montane canopy. Arthropods also recorded in the diet. Breeding habits mostly unknown; female definitely builds the nests and tend the chicks, as with most other birds-of-paradise, though the exact rearing period is unknown. All that is known about the courtship display is that the males display on a branch upside-down with their nape crests spread out, dense breast feathers flared up, and tail standing vertically upwards above the branch. No other information.

Distribution

''Astrapia nigra'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

in Vogelkop Peninsula, West Papua.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2313277 Astrapia Birds of the Doberai Peninsula Birds described in 1788 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin