''Epimachus'' is a genus of

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 ...

(Paradisaeidae) that includes two species, found in the highland forests of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. They are the largest members of the family. The common name "sicklebill" refers to their long, decurved,

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feed ...

-shaped bill. Sicklebills often associate with astrapias, which are superficially similar but have a short, straight bill and blunt-tipped tail, and the male's wings hiss in flight. The species in the genus ''Epimachus'' are often referred to as "long-tailed" sicklebills, when describing them collectively as a genus. The other sicklebills, genus '' Drepanornis'', are referred to as the "short-tailed" sicklebills. Ironically, the two genera are not closely related. There may also be confusion with the birds of the same name that belong to the hummingbird family, found in 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 ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Epimachus'' was introduced in 1816 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier for the

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 ...

. The genus name is from the

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 ...

επιμαχος (''epimakhos'') meaning "equipped for battle" (from ''makhomai'' "to fight"). In 1972, the genus was merged with the genus ''Drepanornis'', but separated again in 1998. A phylogenetic study placed ''Epimachus'' in a clade that includes '' Paradigalla'' and ''

Astrapia ''Astrapia'' (Vieillot, 1816) is a genus of birds-of-paradise. The genus contains five species, all endemic to New Guinea. The males have highly iridescent plumage and remarkably long tails. Females are duller and have shorter tails. Barnes's ...

'', implying that the long, curved bill has been acquired independently in ''Epimachus''. According to the same study, the ''Drepanornis'' species are closely related to the Twelve-wired bird-of-paradise, Standardwing bird-of-paradise, superb birds-of-paradise, and the riflebirds. The two species of ''Drepanornis'' as well as the two species of ''Epimachus'' separated about 10 and 7 mya, respectively. While the two species of ''Drepanornis'' occupy different elevations in low- and mid-montane forests, the two species of ''Epimachus'' are altitudinal replacements in mountain forests; these two cases could represent old cases of altitudinal speciation.

Species

Description

Both species of ''Epimachus'' are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. The males of these birds are highly eccentric, with hyperbolically long, saber-like, black tails that reach around alone. They also feature two pectoral fan-like plumes on each side of the breast, which they bring up over their heads during their displays. There is extensive green/purple iridescent highlights found on the head and back of the adult male; additionally, blue gloss is present on the tail. The females of both species both have barred underparts, olive-brown upperparts and relatively long tails, though not as extensive as the males' tails.

Distribution and habitat

Sicklebills are endemic to

, sympathetically inhabiting areas of montane rainforest and cloud forest along the central mountainous axis of the island. Brown sicklebills are more common, inhabiting mid and upper-mountain forests, including mossy cloud forest, above the elevations of other sicklebills. Black sicklebills are more rare and inhabit the transition from mid-mountain to cloud forest, occasionally forest edges.

References

Bird genera Taxa named by Georges Cuvier {{Paradisaeidae-stub