You are here
Species
Lophorina superba Forster, JR, 1781
Nomenclature
-
Family: ParadisaeidaeGenus: Lophorina
SUMMARY
Male nominate race has scale-like crown feathers iridescent metallic green-blue with purple1 to magenta Sheens, rest of head velvety jet-black with dark coppery-green sheen, tuft of elongate erectile feathers above and behind each nostril, feathers at base of latter, those on lores and elongate forward-pointing chin feathers with purple to magenta iridescence; nape feathers grossly elongated and modified to form vast erectile nuchal "cape", its outer spatulate to fan-shaped feathers resulting in a symmetrical shape when raised, these velvety jet-black feathers and those of mantle with dull dark olive-green iridescence; back and rump black, uppertail-coverts as mantle; upperwing-coverts and tertials velvety matt black, flight-feathers blackish-brown, priamaries with narrow olive-brown leading edges;uppertail similar to remiges but velvety jet-black, losngest central pair of feathers with violet-purple iridescence; throat velvety black with dark olive-green sheen grading to purple iridescence, all with magenta washes, feathers scale-like and greatly elongated laterally, forming shallow, “winged” , delta-shaped shield of intensely iridescent mettalic greenish-blue with bluish-green to violet-purple sheens; underparts slightly glossy black, with trace of dark olive-green and purple sheens on belly; iris dark brown; bill black, mouth lemon-yellow to lime-green; legs blackish. Female is markedly smaller than male, particularly in wing length (almost no overlap between sexes); plumage radically different, head and nape blackish-brown with short line of tiny whitish spots as postocular stripe, similar submoustachial stripe immediatelly beneath gape, upperparts cryptically coloured brown and rufous, chin and throat whitish-grey, grading to pale buff on upper breast and to darker buff on flanks, things and undertail-coverts, all uniformly narrowly barred brownish-black; similar to females of same parotias and Ptiloris magnificus. Juvenile is like female, but plumage soft and fluffy, with darker crown, rear and side of neck barred ochraceous; immature male like adult female, but mean lengths of wing and tail longer; subadult male variable, like adult female with few feathersof adult male plumage intruding, initially outer primaries becoming black, to like adult male with few feathers of female-like plumage remaining; tail length of male increases slightly with age (varies with race). Race niedda like nominate in appearance and proportionate measurements, but female darker and more ochraceous on underparts; feminina has proportionately much longer wing in relation to tail thean do others, female similar to latipennis but broad superciliary stripes join narrowly across nape, latipennis is smaller then nominate in heaving head dark brown, broad whitish superciliary stripe, white streaking on forehead, crown and nape, upperparts variably olive-tinged brown, chin and throat whitish: minor has mean wing length shorter then all others, tail shorter than all except femininti. female blacker than preceding race, head and throat more blackish-brown, su« perciliary stripe reduced to small postocular streak, little or no pale nape marking, upperparts rich dark chestnut.