The golden bowerbird (''Prionodura newtoniana'') is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae, the bowerbirds. It 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 else ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

in Australia, where it is limited to the Atherton region.

Distribution

This species has a patchy distribution in northeastern

. Though it has a limited range, it is common in the area, and populations are apparently stable. It is a

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

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 ...

. This bird lives in rainforests above 700 meters in elevation, including some habitat that has been disturbed by human activities such as logging.

Description

The male golden bowerbird has a brown head and brown wings which are bright yellow-gold underneath, as are the tail, crest and

nape The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is also called the nucha (from the Medieval Latin rendering of the Arabic , "spinal marrow"). The corresponding adjective is ''nuchal'', as in the term ''nu ...

. The female is olive brown with ash-gray underparts. Immatures look similar to the female except their eyes are brown. This is the smallest species of bowerbird.

Habitat

The

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of the golden bowerbird is upland rainforests from 350 and 1530 meters. Traditional bowerbird habitats include mild slopes, ridges immediately surrounding hill crests, and below steeper slopes where terrain levels off; canopy coverage is often greater than 70%; none on hilltops or in disturbed forest.

Life history

The golden bowerbird feeds mainly on fruits, and sometimes takes insects and spiders.Frith, C. B. and D. W. Frith. (2000)
Home range and associated sociobiology and ecology of male Golden Bowerbirds ''Prionodura newtoniana'' (Ptilonorhynchidae).
''Memoirs of The Queensland Museum 45:343-357. Like most other bowerbirds, the male builds and maintains a bower over several years. Males do not grow their adult plumage for at least five or six years, during which time they wander, learn the social hierarchy of mature males, and practice building bower-like structures. Upon maturity, a male establishes his bower site, builds his structure, and spends much time decorating it. He may steal decorations from his neighbours, and defend his possessions from other males. During the breeding season, generally August through December, the male perches at his bower and produces a number of vocalizations, which attract females. The female establishes a nest in cup-shaped crevices, usually in tree trunks. There are one to two eggs per clutch. The nestlings are fed fruit and insects, and fledging occurs most often in January. The life span ranges from 6 to 30 years, depending on the species.

Diet and foraging

The golden bowerbird feeds mainly on fruits, and sometimes takes insects and spiders. Fruits, especially those from vines, as well as flowers, buds, and arthropods. Nestlings eat largely fruits and a few insects, mostly

cicadas The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

(Cicadidae), with the percentage of fruit rising as the nestling grows older. Fruits and insects are eaten by fledglings. In the Paluma Range, males cache fruits, especially bunches of wild pepper (Piper), in crevices surrounding bower sites to be recovered for later use; one nesting female was spotted retrieving a cached fruit. Forages by sallying and seeking; cicadas are infrequently hawked. Usually eats alone, however 3–4 (often juvenile) individuals may forage in the same fruiting canopy with other bird species, including other bowerbirds.

Sounds and vocal behavior

Peak calling season is September–December. The sounds the golden bowerbird makes vary by populations. However the typical male call song is a pulsating rattle note, which lasts 1-2 seconds and is repeated several times. Other kinds of bowers calls include: include squeals, screeches, scold-rasps, or wolf-whistle notes or a medley of them; also high-quality mimicry of calls of other bird species. In addition, the male birds are known to respond more strongly to the local dialects than foreign dialects. This means that when one of the male birds recognizes the call they respond in a different manner than if they did not recognize the call.

Conservation status

The golden bowerbird's population is very well conserved. They do not face a threat of extinction and are very well protected in their habitat. In past years, the birds faced the threat of logging in their habitat, however this did not present a big threat to the birds. Their habitat is now also environmentally protected so the threat of extinction and decline in population is very minimal.

Gallery

File:GoldenBowerbird.jpg File:GoldenBowerbird2.jpg File:CSIRO ScienceImage 10960 Golden Bowerbird.jpg

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q427526 golden bowerbird Birds of Cape York Peninsula Endemic birds of Australia golden bowerbird