Manucodia ater
Large paradisaeid with long, graduated tail; base of culmen ridge broadened and flattened to a degree intermediate between those of M, jobiensis and M. chalybatus. Male nominate race has head and neck blue-black with iridescent blue-green tipping on smooth feathering, also plum-purple sheen in some lights: dense feathers above each eye (not elongated or erectile}; Smooth-plumaged blue-black mantle, back, rump, upperwing and uppertail with iridescent glosses of blue and of purple to magenta, tail "~' may show' subtle blackish barring, rectrices have tiny hair-like central points; iridescent tipping on each feather of chin and throat forms inverted V-shape; breast as upperparts but more blue-green iridescence increasing on belly, vent and undertail-coverts; iris blood-red with brown inner ring; bill dark grey to black, legs black. Female is on average smaller than male, also with glosses greener, less purple, particularly on underparts. Juvenile is downy and dull brownish-black, this subsequently broken up by glossy feathers of immature plumage (initially more so on upperparts); immature duller than adult, tail on average slightly shorter, iris orange-yellow to yellowish-orange (and probably changing with age), difficult to differentiate from immature M. chalybatus. Race subalter is larger than nominate, male differs also in having more purple and violet colours (oil-green colour rare); alter is considerably larger than other two races, bill length of adult male exclusively so, and male flanks and belly more violet than nominate.
Not Threatened
Large paradisaeid with long, graduated tail; base of culmen ridge broadened and flattened to a degree intermediate between those of M, jobiensis and M. chalybatus. Male nominate race has head and neck blue-black with iridescent blue-green tipping on smooth feathering, also plum-purple sheen in some lights: dense feathers above each eye (not elongated or erectile}; Smooth-plumaged blue-black mantle, back, rump, upperwing and uppertail with iridescent glosses of blue and of purple to magenta, tail "~' may show' subtle blackish barring, rectrices have tiny hair-like central points; iridescent tipping on each feather of chin and throat forms inverted V-shape; breast as upperparts but more blue-green iridescence increasing on belly, vent and undertail-coverts; iris blood-red with brown inner ring; bill dark grey to black, legs black. Female is on average smaller than male, also with glosses greener, less purple, particularly on underparts. Juvenile is downy and dull brownish-black, this subsequently broken up by glossy feathers of immature plumage (initially more so on upperparts); immature duller than adult, tail on average slightly shorter, iris orange-yellow to yellowish-orange (and probably changing with age), difficult to differentiate from immature M. chalybatus. Race subalter is larger than nominate, male differs also in having more purple and violet colours (oil-green colour rare); alter is considerably larger than other two races, bill length of adult male exclusively so, and male flanks and belly more violet than nominate.
Male 38-42 cm. I 70— 315 g; female 33-37 cm, 155-252 g
Taxonomy: Phonygama ater Lesson, 1830, Dorey, north-west New Guinea. Sympatric with M. jobiensis, M. chalybatus or M. keraudrenii at various localities, but no cases of hybridization recorded. Geographical variation largely clinal; species sometimes treated as monotypic. Listed distribution of race subalter uncertain, and biogeographically odd; study of geographical variation required. Three subspecies currently recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * ater ( Lesson, 1830) - mainland New Guinea from Vogelkop E patchily to Huon Gulf and, in S, to Purari R. * subalter Rothschild & E. J. O. Hartert, 1929 - West Papuan Is (Gebe, Waigeo, Gam, Batanta, Salawati, Misool), Aru Is, and SE peninsula of New Guinea (E from Kumusi R in N watershed and, in S, from NE Gulf of Papua). * alter , 1903 - Tagula I, in Louisiade Archipelago (off SE New Guinea).
Lowland rainforest, swamp-forest, forest edge, riverine and monsoon forests, woodlands, denser savanna woodlands, savanna, mangroves, gardens, and associated secondary growth; usually in primary forest and mature secondary forest, only occasionally edges of gardens with rem-nani trees. Sea-level to low hills, less commonly to 1100 m.
Mostly fruits, especially figs, possibly also flowers (perhaps nectar); also some animals, including insects and worms. Nestlings diet regurgitated fruits. Forages mostly in canopy and in subcanopy, also in low dense vegetation. Usually encountered singly or in pairs, occasionally in small feeding associations with conspecifics and/or other frugivorous birds; commonly joins mixed-species flocks of black-plumaged and/or brown-plumaged species; chases foraging competitors from fruiting trees.
Season at least Aug-Mar; males with fairly enlarged gonads in Feb-May and much-enlarged ones Jun-Jan, egg-laying Jan, Mar and Aug-Oet, and nestling c, 1 day old in late Sept; one display recorded in Jan. Monogamous pair-bonding; apparently non-territorial. Display on tree branches involving a chase, and then static, male slightly spreading and shaking wings and tail and erecting body plumage. Nest a deep firm cup of slender semi-woody to woody dead and dry vine tendrils or stems, sometimes with few green ones, coiled and interwoven into neat cohesive whole, inner layer of dead leaves and a quantity of dead, dry, rotten wood, with cup lining of blackish semi-woody supple stems bent around inside cup; suspended in forked branch 4-12 m above ground in small tree in tall open rainforest, at or near rainforest/open woodland or savanna edge, in savanna, beside rainforest clearing or in mangrove. Clutch 1-3 eggs; incubation c. 15-17 days: chicks brooded and fed by both parents, both also swallow chicks- faeces, duration of nestling period uncertain, more than 19 days.