Elliot's bird of paradise is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae, first described by Edward Ward in 1873. The bird is presumed by some ornithologists to be an intergeneric

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 a

black sicklebill The black sicklebill (''Epimachus fastosus'') is a large member of the birds of paradise family, Paradisaeidae. This species is found throughout most of central New Guinea and the Vogelkop region to the northwest in montane forests at altitud ...

and

Arfak astrapia The Arfak astrapia (''Astrapia nigra'') is a species of astrapia, a group of birds found in the '' Paradiseidae'' family of the birds-of-paradise. In the wild, the bird has hybridised with the black sicklebill creating offspring that were once co ...

. This assumption was made by the German ornithologist

Erwin Stresemann Erwin Friedrich Theodor Stresemann (22 November 1889, in Dresden – 20 November 1972, in East Berlin) was a German naturalist and ornithologist. Stresemann was an ornithologist of extensive breadth who compiled one of the first and most compreh ...

who had also dismissed other new species of birds of paradise as hybrids. Other ornithologists dispute this claim. Errol Fuller argues that the Astrapia is a fanciful choice made with little supporting evidence, and that Elliot's Bird of Paradise is much smaller than the two proposed parent species. The specimens show a number of characteristics not present in either parent species, adding weight to the possibility of the specimens constituting a unique species. Stresemann had previously used the ''A. nigra'' x ''E. fastuosus'' explanation for the

astrapian sicklebill The astrapian sicklebill, also known as the green-breasted riflebird, is a bird in the Paradisaeidae family that is believed to be an intergeneric hybrid between an Arfak astrapia and black sicklebill. This explanation was proposed by Erwin Stre ...

as well.

History

Only two adult male specimens are known of this bird, held in the British Natural History Museum and the Dresden Natural History Museum, and presumably deriving from the

Vogelkop Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...

of north-western

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 ...

. In 1930, Stresemann inspected both specimens and declared Elliot's Bird of Paradise to be a hybrid rather than a “real” species. Ornithologists have continued to express doubts about the bird's taxonomic status, however. As recently as 2012, Julian Hume and Michael Walters suggested that it is likely the elusive bird is either rare or extinct.Hume & Walters (2012) p.342.

Notes

References

* * * * Hybrid birds of paradise Birds of the Doberai Peninsula Intergeneric hybrids {{Paradisaeidae-stub