The King of Holland's bird of paradise, also known as King William III's bird of paradise or the exquisite little king, is a bird in the 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 ...

that is a

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 magnificent bird of paradise and king bird of paradise.

History

At least 26 adult male specimens of this hybrid exist in various collections, including the American Museum of Natural History and the

Manchester Museum Manchester Museum is a museum displaying works of archaeology, anthropology and natural history and is owned by the University of Manchester, in England. Sited on Oxford Road ( A34) at the heart of the university's group of neo-Gothic buildings, ...

, coming mainly from north coastal

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 ...

or unknown localities. It was described as a new species by

Adolf Bernard Meyer Adolf Bernhard Meyer (11 October 1840, Hamburg – 22 August 1911, Dresden) was a German anthropologist, ornithologist, entomologist, and herpetologist. He served for nearly thirty years as director of the Königlich Zoologisches und Anthropolo ...

in 1875 and diagnosed as a hybrid by

Jacques Berlioz Jacques Berlioz (9 December 1891, Paris – 21 December 1975) was a French zoologist and ornithologist, specializing in hummingbirds. He was a grand-nephew of composer Hector Berlioz (1803–1869). Berlioz was born in Paris, where the family h ...

in 1927.Frith & Beehler (1998), p.507.

Notes

References

* * Hybrid birds of paradise Birds of New Guinea {{Paradisaeidae-stub