The emperor bird-of-paradise (''Paradisaea guilielmi''), also known as emperor of Germany's 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 thi ...

. The emperor bird-of-paradise is

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 ...

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 ...

. It is distributed in hill forests of the Huon Peninsula. The diet consists mainly of fruits,

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

s and

arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

. The name commemorates the last German Emperor and King of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

, Wilhelm II of Germany. In January 1888, the emperor bird-of-paradise was the last

discovered by

Carl Hunstein Carl Hunstein (1843 – March 13, 1888) was a German ornithologist and plant collector. Hunstein was born in Homberg, Germany. He emigrated to America, then relocated to New Zealand. From 1885 until his death, he was employed by the German New ...

, who also found the

blue bird-of-paradise The blue bird-of-paradise (''Paradisornis rudolphi'') is a beautiful, relatively large species of bird-of-paradise. It is the only species in the genus ''Paradisornis'', but was previously included in the genus ''Paradisaea''. It is often regarde ...

on his journeys. These two species, along with the

red bird-of-paradise The red bird-of-paradise (''Paradisaea rubra''), also called the cendrawasih merah, is a bird-of-paradise in the genus ''Paradisaea'', family Paradisaeidae. Description Large, up to 33 cm long, brown and yellow with a dark brown iris, grey ...

, are the only ''

Paradisaea The genus ''Paradisaea'' consists of six species of birds-of-paradise (family Paradisaeidae). The genus is found on the island of New Guinea as well as the nearby islands groups of the Aru Islands, D'Entrecasteaux Islands and Raja Ampat Islands. ...

'' that perform inverted display. Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range and overhunting in some areas, the emperor bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Near Threatened on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

Description

The emperor bird-of-paradise is large, approximately 33 cm long, yellow and brown with a reddish-brown iris, bluish-grey

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 ...

and purplish-brown legs. The male has an extensive dark emerald green face and throat, two very long tail wires and large white ornamental flank plumes. The female is almost similar to the male, but has an all brown plumage, smaller in size and has no ornamental plumes.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
Paradisaea Birds of the Huon Peninsula Birds described in 1888 Huon Peninsula montane rain forests {{Paradisaeidae-stub