Astrapia mayeri Stonor, 1939

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Habitat and Ecology:

Habitat and Ecology

It occurs in montane forest between 2,400 and 3,400 m, sometimes down to 1,800 m and also in degraded forest.

Systems

  • Terrestrial
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106005835

Endemic Near-threatened

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorKaterina Tvardikova
Sourcehttp://pngbirds.myspecies.info/node/355

IUCN Red List Assessment:
Red List Category

NT
Near Threatened

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2008

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s

Mahood, S., Butchart, S.

Contributor/s

Gregory, P.

Justification

This species is likely to have a moderately small population within its small range. It is likely to be declining owing to ongoing habitat degradation, but the range is not yet severely fragmented or restricted to few locations. For these reasons, the species is classified as Near Threatened.

History

  • 2004
    Near Threatened
  • 1996
    Vulnerable
  • 1994
    Vulnerable
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106005835

Population:

Population Trend

Decreasing
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106005835

Threats:

Major Threats

It is locally threatened by hunting for tail plumes and by large-scale logging and forest degradation but it is safe in the inaccessible portions of its range1,2,3. Previous concerns of genetic swamping through hybridisation with Stephanie's Astapia A. stephaniae in the far east of its range are now discounted.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106005835

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Regularly monitor the populations at selected sites. Further research its tolerance of degraded forest across an altitudinal gradient. Protect significant areas of remaining primary forest.
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/Author© International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106005835

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 New Guinea. Like many other ornamental birds-of-paradise, the male is polygamous. The ribbon-tailed astrapia is the most recently discovered bird-of-paradise.

Due to habitat lost and hunted for its plumes, the ribbon-tailed astrapia is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1] It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.

The scientific name commemorates the great naturalist and New Guinea explorer Fred Shaw Mayer, who was believed to have discovered the bird in 1938. However, it is now believed that explorer Jack Hides discovered the bird, while Mayer became interested in it later.[2]

Description[edit]


Male with long tail feathers

The ribbon-tailed astrapia is medium-sized, up to 32 cm long (without including the tail of the male, which can be over 1 metre). The body is velvet black. The male has an iridescent olive green and bronze plumage, and is adorned with ornamental "ball" plume above its bill and two extremely long, ribbon-like white tail feathers. The female is a brown bird with an iridescent head. Hybrids between this species and the Stephanie's astrapia, in the small area where their ranges overlap, have been named Barnes' astrapia.

One of the most spectacular birds-of-paradise, the male ribbon-tailed astrapia has the longest tail feathers in relation to body size of any bird, over three times the length of its body.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b BirdLife International (2012). "Astrapia mayeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013. 
  2. ^ Chandler, David; Couzens, Dominic (2008). 100 Birds to See Before You Die: The Ultimate Wish List for Birders Everywhere. ISBN 978-1-59223-958-0. 
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorWikipedia
Sourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ribbon-tailed_astrapia&oldid=614998046

Range:

Central cordillera of e New Guinea.

  • Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorCornell Laboratory of Ornithology
SourceNo source database.

Range Description:

Astrapia mayeri has a small range in the central mountains of Papua New Guinea, from the Strickland River to Mt Hagen and Mt Giluwe, c.130 km west. Its western limits require further surveying. It is generally fairly common, even in degraded forest. At a new site, Kumul Lodge in the west of its range, it is reported to be abundant (Salvadori 1998).

Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/22706218

Habitat and Ecology:

Habitat and Ecology

It occurs in montane forest between 2,400 and 3,400 m, sometimes down to 1,800 m and also in degraded forest.

Systems

  • Terrestrial
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Rights holder/AuthorInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Sourcehttp://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/22706218
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