The crescent-caped lophorina or Vogelkop superb bird-of-paradise (''Lophorina niedda''), sometimes noted as the curl-caped bird-of-paradise, is a species of the Paradisaeidae (

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 ...

) family. It is endemic to the Bird's Head Peninsula in

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 ...

(''Vogelkop'' in Dutch). First described in 1930 by

Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr (; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher o ...

, it had been treated as a subspecies of the

superb bird-of-paradise The greater lophorina (''Lophorina superba''), also known as superb bird-of-paradise or greater superb bird-of-paradise, is a species of the Paradisaeidae (bird-of-paradise) family. It was considered the sole species in the genus until in 2017 i ...

but was elevated to the status of a full species in 2017, and reinforced in 2018 based on its striking black plumage (its feathers absorb 99.95 percent of light) and behavioral differences, especially visible in the courting male.

Etymology

The crescent-caped lophorina's scientific name consists of the words ''lophorina'', meaning "tuft/crest-nose", referring to the upward-standing tufts of feathers behind each nostril, and ''niedda'' which refers to the native

onomatopoeic Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

name for a bird-of-paradise. The subspecies, ''L. n. inopinata'' specific name means unexpected or unlooked for.

Taxonomy and systematics

Historical sources generally recorded the crescent-caped lophorina as being a subspecies of the

(''Lophorina superba niedda''); however, in 2017, the crescent-caped lophorina was formally treated as a separate species. There are two known subspecies: ''L. n. niedda'', found on the Wadammen Peninsula; and ''L. n. inopinata'', found on the Doberai Peninsula. There are also several differences in courtship behavior, as well as their geographic isolation from the rest of the population. This classification is disputed, however; the subspecies ''inopinata'' comprises the taxon formerly known as ''L. superba superba'', but given a new name, while other taxonomists argue that regardless of the evidence, names should not be reassigned from one recognized taxon to another after over 200 years of consistent application.Elliott A, Collar NJ, Bruce MD, Kirwan GM (2020) The nomenclature of ''Lophorina'' (Aves: PARADISAEIDAE), with remarks on the type and type locality of ''L. superba''. Zootaxa 4732 (1): 57‒78.

Distribution and habitat

The crescent-caped lophorina is found in the mountains of Bird's Neck Peninsula, in

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is typically found at heights of 1200–2000 m.

References

External links

* Birds described in 1930 Taxa named by Ernst Mayr Birds of Indonesia Birds of New Guinea Lophorina {{Paradisaeidae-stub