Bowerbirds () make up the bird
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where males build a structure and decorate it with sticks and brightly coloured objects in an attempt to attract a mate.
The family has 27 species in eight
genera
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 nomenclat ...
. These are medium to large-sized
passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...
s, ranging from the
golden bowerbird
The golden bowerbird (''Prionodura newtoniana'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae, the bowerbirds. It is endemic to Queensland in Australia, where it is limited to the Atherton region.
Distribution
This species has a patc ...
at and to the
great bowerbird
The great bowerbird (''Chlamydera nuchalis'') is a common and conspicuous resident of northern Australia, from the area around Broome across the Top End to Cape York Peninsula and as far south as Mount Isa. Favoured habitat is a broad range of fo ...
at and . Their diet consists mainly of fruit but may also include insects (especially for nestlings), flowers, nectar and leaves in some species.
[ The satin and ]spotted bowerbird
The spotted bowerbird (''Chlamydera maculata'') is a sedentary, mid-sized passerine found across broad parts of the drier habitats of eastern Australia. The species is known for its remarkable behaviours, like many other bowerbirds (Ptilonorynch ...
s are sometimes considered agricultural pests
PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...
due to their habit of feeding on introduced fruit and vegetable crops and have occasionally been killed by affected orchardists.
The bowerbirds have an Austro-Papuan distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
* Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...
, with ten species 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 elsew ...
to 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 ...
, eight endemic to Australia, and two found in both.[
] Although their distribution is centered on the tropical regions of New Guinea and northern Australia, some species extend into central, western, and southeastern Australia. They occupy a range of different habitats, including rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
, eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...
and acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
forest, and shrublands.
Behaviour and ecology
The ''Ailuroedus'' catbirds are monogamous
Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...
, with males raising chicks with their partner, but all other bowerbirds are polygynous
Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women.
Incidence
Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...
, with the female building the nest and raising the young alone. These latter species are commonly dimorphic, with the female being drabber in color. Female bowerbirds build a nest by laying soft materials, such as leaves, ferns, and vine tendrils, on top of a loose foundation of sticks.
All Papuan bowerbirds lay one egg, while Australian species lay one to three with laying intervals of two days.[Higgins, P.J. and J.M. Peter (editors); '']Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds
The ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds'', known as ''HANZAB'', is the pre-eminent scientific reference on birds in the region, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and the surrounding ocean and subantarctic ...
, Volume 6: Pardalotes to Shrike-thrushes'' Bowerbird eggs are around twice the weight of those of most passerines of similar size – for instance eggs of the satin bowerbird weigh around as against a calculated for a passerine weighing . Eggs hatch after 19 to 24 days, depending on the species and are a plain cream color for catbirds and the tooth-billed bowerbird
The tooth-billed bowerbird (''Scenopoeetes dentirostris''), also known as the stagemaker bowerbird or tooth-billed catbird, is a medium-sized (approximately long) bowerbird. It is a stocky olive-brown bird with brown-streaked buffish white unde ...
, but in other species possess brownish wavy lines similar to eggs of Australo-Papuan babbler
The Pomatostomidae (Australo-Papuan or Australasian babblers, also known as pseudo-babblers) are small to medium-sized birds endemic to Australia-New Guinea. For many years, the Australo-Papuan babblers were classified, rather uncertainly, with t ...
s. In accordance with their lengthy incubation periods, bowerbirds that lay more than one egg have asynchronous hatching, but siblicide
Siblicide (attributed by behavioural ecologist Doug Mock to Barbara M. Braun) is the killing of an infant individual by its close relatives (full or half siblings). It may occur directly between siblings or be mediated by the parents, and is dri ...
has never been observed.
Bowerbirds as a group have the longest life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
of any passerine family with significant banding studies. The two most studied species, the green catbird and satin bowerbird, have life expectancies of around eight to ten years and one satin bowerbird has been known to live for twenty-six years. For comparison, the common raven
The common raven (''Corvus corax'') is a large all-black passerine bird. It is the most widely distributed of all corvids, found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is a raven known by many names at the subspecies level; there are at least e ...
, the heaviest passerine species with significant banding records, has not been known to live longer than 21 years.
Courtship and mating
The most notable characteristic of bowerbirds is their extraordinarily complex courtship and mating behaviour, where males build a bower
Bower may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Catherine, or The Bower'', an unfinished Jane Austen novel
* A high-ranking card (usually a Jack) in certain card games:
** The Right and Left Bower (or Bauer), the two highest-ranking cards in the g ...
to attract mates. There are two main types of bowers. Prionodura, Amblyornis, Scenopoeetes and Archiboldia bowerbirds build so-called maypole bowers, which are constructed by placing sticks around a sapling; in the former two species these bowers have a hut-like roof. Chlamydera, Sericulus and Ptilonorhynchus bowerbirds build an avenue type-bower made of two walls of vertically placed sticks. Ailuroedus catbirds are the only species which do not construct either bowers or display courts. In and around the bower, the male places a variety of brightly colored objects he has collected. These objects – usually different among each species – may include hundreds of shells, leaves, flowers, feathers, stones, berries, and even discarded plastic items, coins, nails, rifle shells, or pieces of glass. The males spend hours arranging this collection. Bowers within a species share a general form but do show significant variation, and the collection of objects reflects the biases of males of each species and its ability to procure items from the habitat, often stealing them from neighboring bowers. Several studies of different species have shown that colors of decorations males use on their bowers match the preferences of females.
In addition to the bower construction and ornamentation, male birds perform involved courtship displays to attract the female. Research suggests the male adjusts his performance based on success and female response.
Mate-searching females commonly visit multiple bowers, often returning to preferred bowers several times, and watching males' elaborate courtship displays and inspecting the quality of the bower. Through this process the female reduces the set of potential mates. Many females end up selecting the same male, and many under-performing males are left without copulations. Females mated with top-mating males tend to return to the male the next year and search less.
It has been suggested that there is an inverse relationship between bower complexity and the brightness of plumage. There may be an evolutionary "transfer" of ornamentation in some species, from their plumage to their bowers, in order to reduce the visibility of the male and thereby its vulnerability to predation. This hypothesis is not well supported because species with vastly different bower types have similar plumage. Others have suggested that the bower functioned initially as a device that benefits females by protecting them from forced copulations and thus giving them enhanced opportunity to choose males and benefits males by enhancing female willingness to visit the bower. Evidence supporting this hypothesis comes from observations of Archbold's bowerbirds that have no true bower and have greatly modified their courtship so that the male is limited in his ability to mount the female without her cooperation. In tooth-billed bowerbirds that have no bowers, males may capture females out of the air and forcibly copulate with them. Once this initial function was established, bowers were then co-opted by females for other functions such as use in assessing males based on the quality of bower construction. Recent studies with robot female bowerbirds have shown that males react to female signals of discomfort during courtship by reducing the intensity of their potentially threatening courtship. Young females tend to be more easily threatened by intense male courtship, and these females tend to choose males based on traits not dependent on male courtship intensity.
The high degree of effort directed at mate choice by females and the large skews in mating success directed at males with quality displays suggests that females gain important benefits from mate choice. Since males have no role in parental care and give nothing to females except sperm, it is suggested that females gain genetic benefits from their mate choice. However this has not been established, in part because of the difficulty of following offspring performance since males take seven years to reach sexual maturity. One hypothesis for the evolutionary causation of the bowerbuilding display is Hamilton and Zuk's "bright bird" hypothesis, which states that sexual ornaments are indicators of general health and heritable disease resistance. Doucet and Montgomerie determined that the male bowerbird's plumage reflectance indicates internal parasitic infection, whereas the bower quality is a measure of external parasitic infection. This would suggest that the bowerbird mating display evolved due to parasite mediated sexual selection, though there is some controversy surrounding this conclusion.
This complex mating behaviour, with its highly valued types and colors of decorations, has led some researchers to regard the bowerbirds as among the most behaviorally complex species of bird. It also provides some of the most compelling evidence that the extended phenotype
''The Extended Phenotype'' is a 1982 book by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, in which the author introduced a biological concept of the same name. The main idea is that phenotype should not be ''limited'' to biological processes such ...
of a species can play a role in sexual selection
Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection in which members of one biological sex mate choice, choose mates of the other sex to mating, mate with (intersexual selection), and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of t ...
and indeed act as a powerful mechanism to shape its evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, as seems to be the case for humans. Inspired by their seemingly extreme courtship rituals, Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
discussed both bowerbirds and birds-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 ...
in his writings.
In addition, many species of bowerbird are superb vocal mimics. MacGregor's bowerbird, for example, has been observed imitating pigs, waterfalls, and human chatter. Satin bowerbirds commonly mimic other local species as part of their courtship display.
Bowerbirds have also been observed creating optical illusions
Within visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide variety; thei ...
in their bowers to appeal to mates. They arrange objects in the bower's court area from smallest to largest, creating a forced perspective
Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It manipulates human visual perception through the use of scaled objects and the correlation ...
which holds the attention of the female for longer. Males with objects arranged in a way that have a strong optical illusion are likely to have higher mating success.
Taxonomy and systematics
Though bowerbirds have traditionally been regarded as closely related to the birds 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 ...
, recent molecular
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...
studies suggest that while both families are part of the great corvid radiation that took place in or near Australia-New Guinea
The continent of Australia, sometimes known in technical contexts by the names Sahul (), Australia-New Guinea, Australinea, Meganesia, or Papualand to distinguish it from the country of Australia, is located within the Southern and East ...
, the bowerbirds are more distant from the birds of paradise than was once thought. DNA–DNA hybridization
In genomics, DNA–DNA hybridization is a molecular biology technique that measures the degree of genetic similarity between pools of DNA sequences. It is usually used to determine the genetic distance between two organisms and has been used ex ...
studies placed them close to the lyrebird
A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus ''Menura'', and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environ ...
s; however, anatomical evidence appears to contradict this placement, and the true relationship remains unclear.
Genus ''Ailuroedus
''Ailuroedus'' is a genus of birds in the bowerbird family, Ptilonorhynchidae, native to forests in Australia and New Guinea. The common name, catbird, refers to these species' "wailing cat-like calls". The scientific name ''Ailuroedus'' is der ...
''
* Ochre-breasted catbird, ''Ailuroedus stonii''
* White-eared catbird
The white-eared catbird (''Ailuroedus buccoides'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae found on New Guinea and the West Papuan Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical mois ...
, ''Ailuroedus buccoides''
* Tan-capped catbird, ''Ailuroedus geislerorum''
* Green catbird
The green catbird (''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which soun ...
, ''Ailuroedus crassirostris''
* Spotted catbird
The spotted catbird (''Ailuroedus maculosus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in north Queensland, the eastern Moluccas and New Guinea.Higgins, P.J., Peter, J.M. and Cowling, S.J. 2006. Handbook of Australian, Ne ...
, ''Ailuroedus maculosus''
* Huon catbird
The Huon catbird (''Ailuroedus astigmaticus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in northeastern New Guinea.
This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the spotted catbird before being reclassified as a di ...
, ''Ailuroedus astigmaticus''
* Black-capped catbird, ''Ailuroedus melanocephalus''
* Northern catbird
The Northern catbird (''Ailuroedus jobiensis'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in central-northern New Guinea.
This species was formerly considered a subspecies of the spotted catbird before being reclassified a ...
, ''Ailuroedus jobiensis''
* Arfak catbird
The Arfak catbird (''Ailuroedus arfakianus'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in the Bird's Head Peninsula, Bird's Head (Vogelkop) Peninsula in western New Guinea.
This species was formerly considered a subspecie ...
, ''Ailuroedus arfakianus''
* Black-eared catbird
The black-eared catbird (''Ailuroedus melanotis'') is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found northern Queensland and New Guinea, including its surrounding islands. They are named after their cat-like wails and black ear ...
, ''Ailuroedus melanotis''
Genus ''Scenopoeetes''
* Tooth-billed catbird
The tooth-billed bowerbird (''Scenopoeetes dentirostris''), also known as the stagemaker bowerbird or tooth-billed catbird, is a medium-sized (approximately long) bowerbird. It is a stocky olive-brown bird with brown-streaked buffish white unde ...
, ''Scenopoeetes dentirostris''
Genus '' Archboldia''
* Archbold's bowerbird, ''Archboldia papuensis''
* Sanford's bowerbird
Sanford's bowerbird (''Archboldia sanfordi'') is a subspecies of the Archbold's bowerbird. The Sanford's bowerbird is a black bowerbird with a reddish-brown iris, grey feet and black bill. The male has a golden crest extending from forehead, b ...
, ''Archboldia sanfordi'' (This species' validity is disputed; currently considered conspecific
Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species.
Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...
with ''Archboldia papuensis'' in most references.)
Genus '' Amblyornis''
* Vogelkop bowerbird
The Vogelkop bowerbird (''Amblyornis inornata''), also known as the Vogelkop gardener bowerbird, is a medium-sized, bowerbird of the mountains of West Papua (New Guinea).
Description
The birds are about 21–35 cm in length, with the fema ...
, ''Amblyornis inornata''
* MacGregor's bowerbird, ''Amblyornis macgregoriae''
* Huon bowerbird, ''Amblyornis germanus''
* Streaked bowerbird, ''Amblyornis subalaris''
* Golden-fronted bowerbird
The golden-fronted bowerbird (''Amblyornis flavifrons'') is a medium-sized, approximately 24 cm long, brown bowerbird. The male is rufous brown with an elongated golden crest extending from its golden forehead, dark grey feet and buffish y ...
, ''Amblyornis flavifrons''
Genus ''Prionodura''
* Golden bowerbird
The golden bowerbird (''Prionodura newtoniana'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae, the bowerbirds. It is endemic to Queensland in Australia, where it is limited to the Atherton region.
Distribution
This species has a patc ...
, ''Prionodura newtoniana''
Genus ''Sericulus
The genus ''Sericulus'' of the family Ptilonorhynchidae consists of four spectacularly colored bowerbirds.
All species build an ''"avenue-type"'' bower and are found in New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , h ...
''
* Flame bowerbird
The flame bowerbird (''Sericulus ardens'') is one of the most brilliantly coloured bowerbirds. The male is a medium-sized bird, up to 25 cm long, with flame orange and golden yellow plumage, elongated neck plumes and yellow-tipped black tai ...
, ''Sericulus ardens''
*Masked bowerbird
The masked bowerbird (''Sericulus aureus'') is one of the most brilliantly coloured bowerbirds. The male is a medium-sized bird, up to 25 cm long, with flame orange and golden yellow plumage, elongated neck plumes and yellow-tipped black ta ...
, ''Sericulus aureus''
* Fire-maned bowerbird
The fire-maned bowerbird (''Sericulus bakeri'') is a medium-sized, approximately long, bowerbird that inhabits and endemic to the forests of the Adelbert Range in Papua New Guinea. The striking male is black with fiery orange crown and upperbac ...
, ''Sericulus bakeri''
* Regent bowerbird
The regent bowerbird (''Sericulus chrysocephalus'') is a medium-sized, up to 25 cm long, sexually dimorphic bowerbird. The male bird is black with a golden orange-yellow crown, mantle and black-tipped wing feathers. It has yellow Beak, bill, ...
, ''Sericulus chrysocephalus''
Genus ''Ptilonorhynchus''
* Satin bowerbird
The satin bowerbird (''Ptilonorhynchus violaceus'') is a bowerbird endemic to eastern Australia.
A rare natural hybrid (biology), intergeneric hybrid between the satin bowerbird and the regent bowerbird is known as Rawnsley's bowerbird.
Descrip ...
, ''Ptilonorhynchus violaceus''
Genus ''Chlamydera
''Chlamydera'' is a genus of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae.
Species
All species found in Australia and/or New Guinea:
* Fawn-breasted bowerbird (''Chlamydera cerviniventris'')
* Western bowerbird (''Chlamydera guttata'')
* Great bowerbi ...
''
* Western bowerbird
The western bowerbird (''Chlamydera guttata'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae. The species is a common endemic of Australia. It has a disjunct distribution, occurring in Central Australia and the Pilbara region of Western ...
, ''Chlamydera guttata''
* Spotted bowerbird
The spotted bowerbird (''Chlamydera maculata'') is a sedentary, mid-sized passerine found across broad parts of the drier habitats of eastern Australia. The species is known for its remarkable behaviours, like many other bowerbirds (Ptilonorynch ...
, ''Chlamydera maculata''
* Great bowerbird
The great bowerbird (''Chlamydera nuchalis'') is a common and conspicuous resident of northern Australia, from the area around Broome across the Top End to Cape York Peninsula and as far south as Mount Isa. Favoured habitat is a broad range of fo ...
, ''Chlamydera nuchalis''
* Yellow-breasted bowerbird
The yellow-breasted bowerbird (''Chlamydera lauterbachi'') also known as Lauterbach's bowerbird, is a medium-sized, approximately 27 cm long, bowerbird with a brownish-olive upperparts plumage, grayish-yellow upper breast, coppery crown, dar ...
, ''Chlamydera lauterbachi''
* Fawn-breasted bowerbird
The fawn-breasted bowerbird (''Chlamydera cerviniventris'') is a medium-sized, up to long, bowerbird with a greyish brown spotted white plumage, a black bill, dark brown iris, yellow mouth and an orange buff below. Both sexes are similar. The ...
, ''Chlamydera cerviniventris''
Note that the Ptilonorhynchid catbirds, the grey catbird
The gray catbird (''Dumetella carolinensis''), also spelled grey catbird, is a medium-sized North American and Central American perching bird of the mimid family. It is the only member of the "catbird" genus ''Dumetella''. Like the black catbird ...
(''Dumetella carolinensis'') and black catbird
The black catbird (''Melanoptila glabrirostris'') is a songbird species in the monotypic genus ''Melanoptila'', part of the family Mimidae. At in length and in mass, it is the smallest of the mimids. Sexes appear similar, with glossy black pl ...
(''Melanoptila glabrirostris'') from the Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
, and the Abyssinian catbird
The Abyssinian catbird or juniper babbler (''Sylvia galinieri'') is a species of bird in the family Sylviidae. (It is unrelated to other birds with the common name catbird). It is Endemism, endemic to Ethiopia where it is found in highland forest ...
(''Parophasma galinieri'') from Africa are only related by their common name; they belong to different families.
References
External links
Bowerbird videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
Bower bird nest building
{{Authority control
Birds of Australia
Birds of New Guinea
Taxa named by George Robert Gray