Paradisaea rudolphi
Male nominate race has head, neck and mantle glossy jet-black with iridescent bronzed-green sheen, rear crown and nape suffused with dark carmine-red; crescents of silver-white feathers forming broken eyering; back and rump blackish with iridescent blue-green (upper back), blue and indigo-blue sheens, uppertail-coverts dark cobalt-blue; upperwing variably blue on coverts and inner wing to purplish-blue on tertials, leading edges darker, flight-feathers matt blackish with blue outer edges on all except outer three primaries; uppertail purple-blue, central feather pair grossly elongated into "ribbons" of narrow matt bluish-black webs, paler spatulate tips showing iridescent blue; upper breast matt-blackish with slightest of dark blue iridescence, more pronounced sheen on lower breast, to jet-black belly and dark brownish-black thighs and undertail-coverts: grossly elongated fine, sparse filamental flank plumes basally dark purple-blue with violet sheen, becoming blue centrally and variably purplish-blue to mauve distally; upper surface of flank plumes rusty amber, two areas of inner flank plumes forming a black and a dark crimson linear patch on each side of belly, these meeting during display to form continuous bicoloured line; iris dark brown; bill palest chalky bluish-white, almost white, mouth greenish-yellow; legs purplish-grey. Female is smaller than male, lacks elongated feathers; head and upperparts similar to male, but black areas duller, more dark brownish-black, with only faintest iridescence and no carmine or magenta on head; chestnut-brown below, grading from blackish on throat to dark cinnamon on underparts, with slight matt blackish barring but less so on central belly (and absent in some populations); younger female has more extensive, blacker ventral barring and dark bill. Juvenile is like adult female, but wings darker, bill dark greyish, abdomen whitish, and white feathers around eyes fully developed; immature male like adult female; subadult male like adult female but with few feathers of adult male plumage intruding, grading to like adult male but with few feathers of female-like plumage remaining; with age, male acquires shorter outer rectrices while simultaneously gaining progressively longer and narrower central pair. Race margaritae is like nominate, but female underparts uniformly narrowly barred blackish, and tail (excluding central feather pair) and tarsus on average shorter.
Endemic Vulnerable
Male nominate race has head, neck and mantle glossy jet-black with iridescent bronzed-green sheen, rear crown and nape suffused with dark carmine-red; crescents of silver-white feathers forming broken eyering; back and rump blackish with iridescent blue-green (upper back), blue and indigo-blue sheens, uppertail-coverts dark cobalt-blue; upperwing variably blue on coverts and inner wing to purplish-blue on tertials, leading edges darker, flight-feathers matt blackish with blue outer edges on all except outer three primaries; uppertail purple-blue, central feather pair grossly elongated into "ribbons" of narrow matt bluish-black webs, paler spatulate tips showing iridescent blue; upper breast matt-blackish with slightest of dark blue iridescence, more pronounced sheen on lower breast, to jet-black belly and dark brownish-black thighs and undertail-coverts: grossly elongated fine, sparse filamental flank plumes basally dark purple-blue with violet sheen, becoming blue centrally and variably purplish-blue to mauve distally; upper surface of flank plumes rusty amber, two areas of inner flank plumes forming a black and a dark crimson linear patch on each side of belly, these meeting during display to form continuous bicoloured line; iris dark brown; bill palest chalky bluish-white, almost white, mouth greenish-yellow; legs purplish-grey. Female is smaller than male, lacks elongated feathers; head and upperparts similar to male, but black areas duller, more dark brownish-black, with only faintest iridescence and no carmine or magenta on head; chestnut-brown below, grading from blackish on throat to dark cinnamon on underparts, with slight matt blackish barring but less so on central belly (and absent in some populations); younger female has more extensive, blacker ventral barring and dark bill. Juvenile is like adult female, but wings darker, bill dark greyish, abdomen whitish, and white feathers around eyes fully developed; immature male like adult female; subadult male like adult female but with few feathers of adult male plumage intruding, grading to like adult male but with few feathers of female-like plumage remaining; with age, male acquires shorter outer rectrices while simultaneously gaining progressively longer and narrower central pair. Race margaritae is like nominate, but female underparts uniformly narrowly barred blackish, and tail (excluding central feather pair) and tarsus on average shorter.
Male 30 cm (excluding tail wires). 158-189 g; female 30 cm. 124-166 g
Taxonomy: Paradisornis Rudolphi Finsch and A. B. Meyer, 1885, Hufeisengebirge [Horseshoe Mountains = Mount Maguli], south-eastern New Guinea. Genus name sometimes spelt Paradisea (see page 46). Hybridization with P. lawesii and P. raggiana recorded. Proposed race ampla (described from Mt Missim, in SE New Guinea) synonymized with nominate. Two subspecies recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * margaritae Mayr & Gilliard, 1951 - EC New Guinea (Tari area, Enga Highlands, Sepik-Wahgi Divide, Kubor Range, Mt Giluwe, Mt Hagen, Mt Karimui, Bismarck Range). * rudolphi ( Finsch & A. B. Meyer, 1885) - SE New Guinea from Eastern Highlands (Okapa) and Herzog Mts SE to Owen Stanley Range.
Lower montane forest, forest edge, and denser older secondary growth of fallow gardens; 1100-2000 m, mainly 1400-1800 m. Adult males tend to inhabit centre of elevational range, with young males at upper and lower zones.
Mostly fruits, especially figs, drupes, berries; also some animals, mostly arthropods, possibly lizards. Forages in high canopy when seeking fruits; also often lower in forest when searching for arthropods, which obtained by bark-gleaning. Adult males usually alone, but sometimes in fruiting canopy with individuals in female-type plumage and other species of bird-of-paradise. Females will defend a food resource (fruits).
Across species range breeding can occur at any time of year, mostly Jul—Feb; egg-laying Apr, nestling Nov-Dec, and newly fledged chick with scolding parent mid-Dec; display in NW of range (near Kompiam) mostly Apr to late Nov. Polygynous, solitary promiscuous male advertisement-singing on traditional high perches and displaying on traditional low understorey perches; female builds and attends nest alone. Displays performed on slim, gently to steeply sloping branch, bamboo, grass or vine stem within 1-3 m of forest floor and with foliage directly above; male defoliates immediate area of display perches; two adjacent resident adult males were c. 300 m apart. Solitary courtship display consists of inverted Static Display only (lacks Convergence Display and ritualized Copulatory Sequence of congeners). Nest a sparse deep circular bowl of long, supple green stems of epiphytic orchids, pandanus leaves, fibre of palm leaves, casuarina needles, and few or no other leaves, lined with supple woody fine tendrils, possibly of vines, built c. 4-19 m above ground in variety of sites, from low bush to tall subcanopy tree. Clutch 1 egg, possibly rarely 2; incubation at one nest more than 18 days; parent aggressive towards conspecifics and to other bird-of-paradise species near nest with chick; no information on duration of nestling period.
