The astrapian sicklebill, also known as the green-breasted riflebird, is a bird in the Paradisaeidae family that is believed to be an intergeneric

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

between an

Arfak astrapia 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 creating offspring that were once co ...

and

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 ...

. This explanation was proposed by

Erwin Stresemann Erwin Friedrich Theodor Stresemann (22 November 1889, in Dresden – 20 November 1972, in East Berlin) was a German naturalist and ornithologist. Stresemann was an ornithologist of extensive breadth who compiled one of the first and most compreh ...

who used the same explanation for the

Elliot's bird-of-paradise Elliot's bird of paradise is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae, first described by Edward Ward in 1873. The bird is presumed by some ornithologists to be an intergeneric hybrid between a black sicklebill and Arfak astrapia. This assumption was ...

. The two forms are substantially different and the latter's validity is still under question.

History

Only one adult male specimen of this hybrid is known, held by the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, and presumably deriving from the

Vogelkop Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...

of north-western

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

.Frith & Beehler (1998), p.507.

Notes

References

* Hybrid birds of paradise Birds of the Doberai Peninsula Intergeneric hybrids {{Paradisaeidae-stub