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Species
Paradisaea minor Shaw, 1809
Nomenclature
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Family: ParadisaeidaeGenus: Paradisaea
SUMMARY
Male nominate race has lores, forehead, ear-coverts, malar area, chin and throat finely feathered iridescent yellowish emerald-green, nostril covered by feathers; rest of head pale orangy yellow, glossed iridescent silver, this extending onto nape and mantle and blending into mid-brown of back and upperwing; remaining uppcrparts, including upperwing and tail, paler brown, washed maroon on back, rump and uppertail-coverts, wing with extensive orangy-ycllow shoulder bar and outer edges of greater coverts; central pair of rectrices grossly elongated, only basally webbed and coloured as tail, distally reduced to fine brown wires: breast darker maroon-brown, becoming paler on belly, thighs and undertail-coverts, central tail-coverts soft, fluffy and much elongated; grossly elongated filamental flank plumes bright yellow at bases, streaked maroon, fading distally to dirty white and to slightest of beige hue: iris yellow; bill chalky bluish-grey, mouth pinkish-flesh; legs purplish grey-brown. Female is smaller than male, exclusively so in wing length, with central rectrices shorter, narrower and more pointed than rest; entire head dark brown, grading to paler buff on nape and mantle, remaining upperparts variably mid-brown to dark brown; dark brown throat, white rest of underparts with pinkish light brown wash, especially on flanks and undertail-coverts. thighs brown. Juvenile undescribed; immature male like adult female: subadult variable, like adult female with few feathers of adult male plumage intruding, and with central rectrices longer, narrower and more pointed than rest, to like adult male with few feathers of female-like plumage remaining; in captivity, transition from female-like to adult male plumage started at age 4 and continued for further 4—5 years, individual thus 8-9 years old when first in full adult male plumage; male acquires progressively longer central rectrices. Race jobiensis is larger than others, especially in tarsus length, has flank-plume colour same as nominate: finschi is on average similar in size to nominate, but flank plumes proportionately slightly shorter and of brighter orangy yellow; yellow shoulder less extensive than in other races.