The red satinbird (''Cnemophilus sanguineus''), antenna satinbird or crested cnemophilus, formerly known as the sickle-crested bird-of-paradise is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Cnemophilidae The satinbirds or cnemophilines, are a family, Cnemophilidae of passerine birds which consists of four species found in the mountain forests of New Guinea. They were originally thought to be part of the birds-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae unti ...

. It was formerly placed in the bird-of-paradise 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 ...

until genetic work proved it was unrelated to those birds. It is found in the

Bird's Tail Peninsula The Papuan Peninsula, also known as the Bird's Tail Peninsula, is a large peninsula in Papua New Guinea, southeast of the city of Lae, that makes up the southeastern portion of the island of New Guinea. The peninsula is the easternmost extent of ...

(Papua New Guinea).

Etymology

The scientific name ''Cnemophilus sanguineus'' consists of ''cnemophilus'', meaning "mountain/slope-lover" and ''sanguineus'' meaning "bloody", referring to the males' bright reddish-orange to orange upperparts.

Description

The male red satinbird sports bright, orange to reddish-orange upperparts, tail and most of the head is of the same color as well. The cheeks, chin and everything below is a blackish to black color. The feature that granted their former name, sickle-crested bird-of-paradise, is the small group of fine, brownish-purple crest plumes that are usually obscure in the head/crown feathers and is usually raised during displays. The female is plain olive brownish above and light brownish below. Like other members of the family, they have weak feet and an extremely wide gape; the mouth is pinkish in color, and the bill is light grayish. They make harsh rasping calls and also some bell-like ringing sounds; some clicking and creaking calls have been recorded as well.

Behavior and ecology

Red satinbirds are usually seen solitarily, pairs or occasionally in small groups at good fruiting trees. Like all satinbirds, their diet is exclusively fruits, in which their wide gapes are accustomed to. They are also sometimes seen feeding in association with birds-of-paradise in good feeding sites. Outside of fruits, they have been recorded taking earthworms and shelled molluscs. Breeding season not well studied, but is known to occur in August through January in the Eastern Central highlands. The female takes sole duty of rearing the chicks and building nests; she builds dome-shaped, globular nests reminiscent to

bowerbird Bowerbirds () make up the bird family 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 ...

s' nests, made out of twigs, stems, leaves, etc. The clutch is most likely one egg, and it takes around 25–27 days for them to hatch. The chicks are fed mainly fruits and some invertebrates.

Habitat and distribution

''C. sanguineus'' is found in mountains of central and eastern New Guinea, i.e.

Kaijende Highlands The Kaijende Highlands are a nearly uninhabited expanse of mountains near Porgera in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea. The highlands have been characterized as "some of Papua New Guinea's most pristine and scenic montane habitat". The Kaijende High ...

and Mt. Giluwe; no subspecies have been distinguished, though birds from the Kubor Mountains in eastern New Guinea are sometimes considered as a subspecies, ''C. s. kuboriensis''. Red satinbirds are found in montane forests and forest edge, as well as subalpine forests at 2100–3650 m in altitude, but mostly at 2600–3500 m.

References

Cnemophilus Birds of the Papuan Peninsula Birds described in 1890 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Corvoidea-stub