Stephanie's astrapia (''Astrapia stephaniae''), also known as Princess Stephanie's astrapia, is a species of

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 this ...

of 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 ...

, native to the

Bird's Tail Peninsula The Papuan Peninsula, also known as the Bird's Tail Peninsula, is a large peninsula in Papua New Guinea, southeast of the city of Lae, that makes up the southeastern portion of the island of New Guinea. The peninsula is the easternmost extent of ...

(Papua New Guinea). This species was first described by Carl Hunstein in 1884. A common species throughout its range, Princess Stephanie's astrapia is listed as Least Concern 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 ...

of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

. Hybrids between this species and the

ribbon-tailed astrapia The ribbon-tailed astrapia, also known as Shaw Mayer's astrapia (''Astrapia mayeri''), is a species of bird-of-paradise. The ribbon-tailed astrapia is distributed and endemic to subalpine forests in western part of the central highlands of Papua ...

, in the small area where their ranges overlap, have been named

Barnes's astrapia Barnes's astrapia, also known as Barnes's long-tailed bird-of-paradise or Barnes's long-tail, is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae and the genus ''Astrapia'' that is a likely hybrid between Stephanie's astrapia (''A. stephaniae'') and the ribbo ...

Etymology

The scientific name of Stephanie's astrapia is ''Astrapia stephaniae.'' Its genus name, ''

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 ...

'', means "flash of

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

", referring to the brilliant iridescent plumage present in some form on all astapias. Its specific name, ''stephaniae'', honors Princess Stephanie of Belgium, the wife of

Crown Prince Rudolf en, Rudolph Francis Charles Joseph , caption = Rudolf in 1887 , spouse = , issue = Elisabeth Marie, Princess Otto of Windisch-Graetz , house = Habsburg-Lorraine , father = Franz Joseph I of Austria , mother ...

of Austria, who also was honored in the

Blue bird-of-paradise The blue bird-of-paradise (''Paradisornis rudolphi'') is a beautiful, relatively large species of bird-of-paradise. It is the only species in the genus ''Paradisornis'', but was previously included in the genus '' Paradisaea''. It is often regard ...

's scientific name, ''rudolphi''. Upon discovery, its former genus name was ''Astarchia'', meaning "Queen of Stars" (a nickname for the moon) or "Star chief".

Description

Stephanie's astrapia is a most distinctive bird-of-paradise, and extremely unmistakable to recognize. The males of this species reach around 84 cm (33 inches) in length, and a considerable portion of its length comes from the long, 47 cm (18 inches), glossy, black central tail feathers, which almost compete with the exaggerated, white tail feathers of the male Ribbon-tailed astrapias. The upper head of the male is an iridescent greenish-blue, shading to indigo blue in the back; the chin to the upper breast section is an iridescent aqua to greenish-blue, though the throat area is usually a dark, shaded tint depending on the angle of view. Below the iridescent upper breast section, dense, black feathers lie beneath it, and underneath the dense feathers lies a narrow, iridescent, coppery-red to orange-reddish band. The rest of the underparts are an iridescent, dull coppery-red to black (again, depending on the angle of view). The upperparts, namely the mantle (or back), are a dull light-green, but may appear brownish or black in some views. The upperwing is black, with a conspicuous purple gloss, the underwing is a lighter shade of black. The most distinctive feature, the extremely exaggerated central tail plumes, are wholly black with a purple gloss, and white rachides. The feet are grey-blackish, the bill is blackish, the mouth is pale green, and the eyes are dark brown. The female, as typical in the family Paradisaeidae, is drastically different from the male. She is mostly dark brown with a dark black-bluish head and upperbreast, black-barred, cinnamon-brown underparts, and a reasonably long, blackish tail.

Hybridization

In the places where they are sympatric, Stephanie's astrapia rather frequently hybridizes with the ribbon-tailed astrapia. The hybrid offspring has been called "

". This form of astrapia has extremely long central rectrices that have variable amounts of black and white, and are sometimes seen in a mysterious, spiky shape near the end of the tail.

Ecology and behavior

Feeding

Stephanie's astrapia, like a majority of its relatives, are shown to be predominantly

frugivorous A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance an ...

, particularly favoring members of the genus ''

Schefflera ''Schefflera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. With an estimated 600–900 species, the genus represents about half of its family. The plants are trees, shrubs or lianas, growing tall, with woody stems, the absence of a ...

''. Animal prey takes up the other portion of the diet. Recorded prey includes

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s, and some skink species. The birds typically feed alone, occasionally associating with other Paradisaeids, like the Brown sicklebill, and other bird species.

Courtship and breeding

The breeding period typically occurs anywhere from May to July, though reproduction is viable to happen year-round. Male Stephanie's astrapias are polygynous, exhibiting lekking behavior; the males call to attract females to their display perches. There may be as many as 5 birds displaying, though three is more typical. The display consists of the males hopping from each other's perch, swapping places, and chasing the female from perch to perch. The female tends to all nest and chick duties by herself, like most other birds-of-paradise species. Astrapia stephaniae by Bowdler Sharpe

Subspecies and taxonomy

Belonging to the genus ''Astrapia,'' Stephanie's astrapia is most closely related to the ribbon-tailed astrapia, and the two share very similar features, though Stephanie's lacks the conspicuous bobble of feathers found on the ribbon-tailed. The genus ''Astrapia'' falls into a clade with the genera ''Epimachus'' and ''Paradigalla'', though they are closer to the genus ''Paradigalla''. Stephanie's astrapia has been considered to have three subspecies, the third being race ''ducalis'', but that race is synonymized with the nominate. There are currently two recognized subspecies: * ''Astrapia stephaniae feminina'' — Schrader and Bismarck ranges to Sepik-Wahgi divide * ''Astrapia stephaniae stephaniae'' — Owen Stanley Range des monts Doma et Hagen jusqu'à la chaîne Owen Stanley, en passant par le mont Michael et la chaîne Herzog). Une race supplémentaire, A. s. ducalis, vivant dans les monts Herzog

Status and conservation

A common species throughout its range, Princess Stephanie's astrapia is listed as Least Concern on the

of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2214265 Astrapia Birds of the Papuan Peninsula Birds described in 1885 Taxa named by Otto Finsch Endemic fauna of New Guinea