Barnes's astrapia, also known as Barnes's long-tailed bird-of-paradise or Barnes's long-tail, is a bird in the family

Paradisaeidae The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and eastern Australia. The family has 44 species in 17 genera. The members of this ...

and the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Astrapia ''Astrapia'' (Vieillot, 1816) is a genus of birds-of-paradise. The genus contains five species, all endemic to New Guinea. The males have highly iridescent plumage and remarkably long tails. Females are duller and have shorter tails. Barnes's ...

'' that is a likely

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 Stephanie's astrapia (''A. stephaniae'') and the

ribbon-tailed astrapia The ribbon-tailed astrapia, also known as Shaw Mayer's astrapia (''Astrapia mayeri''), is a species of bird-of-paradise. The ribbon-tailed astrapia is distributed and endemic to subalpine forests in western part of the central highlands of Papua ...

(''A. mayeri'').

Description

Barnes's astrapia is similar in appearance to both parent species, though closer to a ribbon-tailed astrapia. Males have two very long white and black tail feathers, glossy blue head and neck, small beak and a black body. Females have fewer blue feathers on their head as well as shorter tails.

Taxonomy

Until 1930, Barnes's astrapia (and all the other hybrid birds-of-paradise) were thought to be species and were named as such. Barnes's astrapia was named ''Astrarchia barnesi'' by Iredale in 1948, under the presumption that it is a species.Iredale (1948).

Distribution

Barnes's astrapia lives in the

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, where the ranges of the parent species overlap on a small part of the Hagen Range and

Mount Giluwe Mount Giluwe is the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea at ( Mount Wilhelm being the highest), and the fifth highest peak on the island of New Guinea. It is located in the Southern Highlands province and is an old shield volcano with v ...

, usually at 2,300–2,600 m asl.

Notes

References

* * Peckover, William S. (1990). ''Papua New Guinea, Birds of Paradise''. Brown: Carina. *

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

Red List of Threatened Species.

External links

Wildiaries
– three photographs of a perched male Astrapia Hybrid birds of paradise {{Paradisaeidae-stub