With Its Vivid Colors, King Bird-Of-Paradise Is A Living Gem

Take a look at the photos, and you will see how it got the name.

Damjan

• Published in Animal Stories
• November 7, 2021

The king bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus regius) is a small and colorful bird of the Paradisaeidae (Bird-of-paradise) family. Its bright and vivid colors make it a living gem.

The males of the species are easy to recognize due to their sharp red color and two long tail feather shafts that end with a bright green circular swirl of feathers. The abdomen is white, with a green stripe across the chest.

The black spots above the eyes make the bird look even more dazzling. Females are far less bright, with their backs, heads, and throats being olive-brown and their chest a variegated buff.

The king bird-of-paradise is endemic to and relatively common throughout Papua New Guinea and many of the country’s western islands. It likes to live in lowland rainforests, gallery forests, along forest edges, as well as disturbed and tall secondary forests. Its diet mainly consists of fruits and arthropods.

King birds-of-paradise are polygynous, which means that they will go to another female after mating with the first one. The male starts the courtship ritual by perching upright on a branch, vibrating his wings then holding his body parallel to the branch.

Then he will spread his pectoral feathers and raise his tail over his head while dancing. He then swings his tail and then his body side to side and finally hangs upside down on the branch with his wings folded, swinging like a pendulum.

Meet the king bird-of-paradise. Its bright and vivid colors make it a living gem.

It can be found throughout Papua New Guinea and many of the country’s western islands

The females build an open cup-shaped nest in a tree cavity and then lay and incubate up to two eggs. Incubation takes up 17 days, and after they hatch, she will take care of the chicks by herself.

King bird-of-paradise is widespread all over its range, but there are no estimates on the population yet. It is currently classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers remain relatively stable.

King birds-of-paradise are polygynous, which means that they will go to another female after mating with the first one.

There is little information available about this species’ behavior.

They are inconspicuous and may be hard to locate. Birds-of-paradise tend to be solitary birds and only come together to mate. Generally, a bird-of-paradise lives 5-8 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity.

What’s interesting about their colors is that they take years to become so bright and vibrant. Many zoos have been sent what were thought to be female birds-of-paradise, but discovered several years later that these were actually males.

Birds-of-paradise tend to be solitary birds and only come together to mate

A bird-of-paradise lives 5-8 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity.

The colors take time to become so bright and vibrant.

It is the smallest and most vividly colored among birds of paradise. It can grow up to approximately 6.3–7.5 long.

Besides being colorful, they are also very loud

Watch and hear them on video:

These birds can be noisy. They call to establish their territory, advise a potential mate of their location, or sound the alarm, using different vocalizations for the different species. They will also communicate by beating their wings or rattling their bill.

H/T: OneBirdCage

Damjan