WILSON'S BIRD OF PARADISE

The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Australia. The family has 42 species in 15 genera. The members of this family are perhaps best known for the plumage of the males of the sexually dimorphic species (the majority), in particular the highly elongated and elaborate feathers extending from the beak, wings, tail or head. For the most part they are confined to dense rainforest habitat. The diet of all species is dominated by fruit and to a lesser extent arthropods. The birds-of-paradise have a variety of breeding systems, ranging from monogamy to lek-type polygamy.

The Wilson's bird-of-paradise (Diphyllodes respublica) is a species of passerine bir d of the family Paradisaeidae.
The first footage of the Wilson's bird-of-paradise ever to be filmed was recorded in 1996 by David Attenborough for the BBCdocumentary Attenborough in Paradise. He did so by dropping leaves on the forest floor, which irritated the bird into clearing them away. 
An Indonesian endemic, the Wilson's bird-of-paradise is distributed to the hill and lowland rainforests of Waigeo and Batanta Islands off West Papua.
Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range and exploitation, the Wilson's bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Wilson's bird-of-paradise is rather small. Males can reach a length of 16 centimetres (6.3 in) (21 cm including central rectrices) and a weight of 53–67 g., while females can reach a length of 16 cm,but a weight of 52–60 g. The male is a red and black bird-of-paradise, with a yellow mantle on its neck, light green mouth, rich blue feet and two curved violet tail feathers. The head is naked blue, with a black double crosspattern on it. The female is a brownish bird with bare blue crown.
In the field, the blue bare skin on the crown of the bird's head is so vivid that it is clearly visible by night; the deep scarlet back and velvet green breast are lush, the curlicue tail gleaming bright silver.
Their diet consists of fruits, insects, arthropods and other small invertebrates.
BUT A number of species are threatened by hunting and habitat loss.


- Taken from Wikipedia

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