The bronze parotia (''Parotia berlepschi''), also known as the Foja parotia, Berlepsch's parotia or Berlepsch's six-wired bird-of-paradise, is a species of

bird-of-paradise 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 ...

, 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 ...

. It resembles and is often considered to be a subspecies of Carola's parotia, but a high majority of authorities support its specific status. The species share many differentiated features (see Description), though the Carola's parotia is more studied than the elusive bronze parotia. The species was first described by

Otto Kleinschmidt Otto Kleinschmidt (13 December 1870 – 25 March 1954) was a German ornithologist, theologist and pastor. Career Kleinschmidt was born as the son of the factory overseer Adolph Kleinschmidt and his wife Elise (maiden name Dreydorf) in Geinsheim ...

in 1897.

Etymology

The bronze parotia's scientific name is ''Parotia berlepschi.'' 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 ...

name, ''

Parotia The parotias are a genus, ''Parotia'', of passerine birds in the bird-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae. They are endemic to New Guinea. They are also known as six-plumed birds of paradise, due to their six head quills. These birds were featured ...

'' is composed of ''par'', meaning "near" and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''ōtos'' for "

ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...

", specifically meaning "curl of hair by the ear", referring to six head plumes on each side of the head, characteristic to males of the genus ''Parotia''. Its specific name, ''berlepschi'', honors

Hans von Berlepsch Count Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch (29 July 1850 – 27 February 1915) was a German ornithologist. Berlepsch studied zoology at the University of Halle. He used his inherited wealth to sponsor bird collectors in South America, including ...

, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

ornithologist (1850-1915).

Description

Arguably one of the more drab members of its

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

, the male bronze parotia has a blackish body in general with a conspicuous oily bronze sheen, more greenish in the neck area, that gives the bird its common name. The differences in the facial and head area is much more differentiated from the

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

; the frontal

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

of the bronze parotia is mostly black with only a more reduced portion of white tips towards the center of it rather than an extended area of white found in Carola's; the inner "bowl" of the frontal crest is greenish gold. There also is a very thin,

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

stripe that ends in a circle that encircles the eyes. Another characteristic of the genus are the six head plumes, anatomically called occipital plumes, long,

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

-like feathers with black, spatulate tips. His chin feathers are greyish to rusty brown, based by a dull

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. These "

whiskers Vibrissae (; singular: vibrissa; ), more generally called Whiskers, are a type of stiff, functional hair used by mammals to sense their environment. These hairs are finely specialised for this purpose, whereas other types of hair are coarse ...

" lead to the ''Parotia-''characteristic, iridescent breast plate composed of scale-like feathers, each with a black, dotted center, and shine pink, orange, green, blue, yellow, gold, violet and orange, depending on the light angle; however, the breast shield is typically inconspicuous in most views. Like other parotias, the male has elongated flank plumes on his sides used in their displays; additionally, found only in Carola's and this species, these flank feathers are black and white, the white standing out on the body. It has a short, black tail, which is shorter than Carola's. It has a relatively robust, more prominently hooked, grey-black

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, light blue-greyish eyes surrounded by an orange ring, and grey-black legs and feet. The female is drastically different from the female, being light brown above with reddish

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

s, light brown tail, and a brown and white head. She is creamy below, covered by brown-blackish barring.

Behavior and ecology

Because of its inaccessibility, the

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

of the bronze parotia is very poorly described. Its diet may consist of

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...

s, and possibly other animal prey. Its

courtship behavior A courtship display is a set of display behaviors in which an animal, usually a male, attempts to attract a mate; the mate Mate choice, exercises choice, so sexual selection acts on the display. These behaviors often include ritualized movement ( ...

may be similar to Carola's parotia courtship behavior. According to

expert Edwin Scholes, actions include court clearing, mat construction, horizontal perch pivot display, hop and shake display, and leaf presentation. Parotias, along with other ground-performing birds-of-paradise, like to keep a clean court, tossing leaves, twigs, moss, etc., as the stage will be judged by the observing female(s). The presentation of leaves is used as a "badge of ownership" to rid of prospecting males; this behavior is seen in Carola's parotia displays, to which one of the most complex courtship sequences in the avian realm belongs. The perch pivots include the flank feathers fluffed out to where they form a semi-circle around the body, as well as the head and tail cocked, all while abruptly jerking the body from side to side. Other courtship behaviors include flexing of the frontal crest, hopping, bowing, shaking of chin feathers, and raising of flank plumes.

History

Many unknown ''Parotia'' specimens arose in Europe in the late 1800s and were owned by Berlepch. Unlike Carola's parotia, the specimens kept by Berlepsch had smaller bills with more of a prominent hooked tip, different plumage figures, and very slight size difference. The specimen was given its current scientific name to honor its owner in 1897.

Rediscovery

Previously known only from four specimens, the home of this little known bird-of-paradise was located in 1985 by the American scientist

Jared Diamond Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American geographer, historian, ornithologist, and author best known for his popular science books '' The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991); ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' (1997, awarded a Pulitzer Priz ...

at the

Foja Mountains The Foja Mountains (Foja Range, Foya Mountains) ( id, Pegunungan Foja) are located just north of the Mamberamo river basin in Papua, Indonesia. The mountains rise to , and have 3,000 square kilometers of old growth tropical rainforest in the inte ...

of Papua,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Diamond encountered only the female of this species. In December 2005, an international team of eleven scientists from the United States, Australia and Indonesia, led by ornithologist and Conservation International vice-president Bruce Beehler traveled to the unexplored areas of Foja Mountains and rediscovered the bronze parotia among other little known and new species. The first photographs of them were taken during the rediscovery.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4688000.stm.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q386041

bronze parotia The bronze parotia (''Parotia berlepschi''), also known as the Foja parotia, Berlepsch's parotia or Berlepsch's six-wired bird-of-paradise, is a species of bird-of-paradise, in the family Bird-of-paradise, Paradisaeidae. It resembles and is often ...

Birds of Western New Guinea