The magnificent bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus magnificus ) is a species of bird-of-paradise. The magnificent bird-of-paradise is distributed amongst the hill and mid-mountain forests of New Guinea and surrounding islands. Like most members of the family Paradisaeidae, the male is polygamous and performs an elaborate courtship display. A widespread and common species throughout their large range, the magnificent bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are listed on Appendix II of CITES.
The generic name Cicinnurus means "curled tail" and its specific name magnificus means magnificent or splendid. The species was formerly listed in the genus Diphyllodes, which means "Double leaf-like", referring to its "leaf-like" tail.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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FrugivoreA frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. Approx...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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ZoochoryZoochory animals are those that can disperse plant seeds in several ways. Seeds can be transported on the outside of vertebrate animals (mostly mam...
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Island endemicIsland endemic animals are found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island. Animals or organisms that are indigenous to a place ar...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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PolygamyPolygamy is the practice of breeding with multiple partners. When a male breeds with more than one female at the same time – it is called polygyny....
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withAs the name suggests, the magnificent bird-of-paradise is magnificent indeed. It has one of the most complex plumage arrangements in the family Paradisaeidae. It reaches around 26–26.5 cm in total length, though the body is around 19 cm. The male has beautiful golden-yellow wings, which are overlapped by a sulfur-colored mantle, or cape, that deflect white a whitish glow, with deep red feathers bordered by black beneath the cape that form a semi-circle over the wings; there are also scruffy brownish feathers on the sides of the cape. The head is fairly short; it is a light brown in a scalloped pattern on the top that extends to the back of the neck, and a darker reddish-brown on the face and below the chin. It has a pale grey-bluish bill, dark brown eyes and a thin, white line that extend behind the eyes. Below is an entirely different story; almost the entire underside consists of the large, iridescent green breast shield, which is finely decorated with lime-green to turquoise scale-like feathers that run down the middle of it. The plumage under the shield is blackish-brown. When fully extended, the breast shield is edged with shiny turquoise-greenish. The tail is blackish-brown with two long, sickle-like, partially curved central tail plumes that are colored light blue. As characteristic in the genus Cicinnurus, both sexes have colorfully blue legs and feet. The female is drastically different from the extravagant male; she is light-brown above, including the tail (which lacks the long sickles). Her head is light brown, but the chin is intercepted by brown barring and creamy feathers that extend all the way to the rump. Her bill is the same color as the males', and she also has a white line extending behind the eyes.
It is sympatric with its congener, the King Bird-of-paradise, and hybridization has been noted several times. Over 20 specimens of these hybrids exist in museums, though no wild records have ever occurred. It was once even thought to be a separate species, called King of Holland's Bird-of-paradise ("Diphyllodes gulielmitertii "); this hybrid is scarlet red above, of the King, with the golden mantle cape of the Magnificent, also sporting two long tail wires more resembling the king's, but being partially curved at the tip with no green spirals that the king sports.
They tend to favor tropical and subtropical montane and hill forest at altitudes of around 1500 m, though they can be found around 1780 m as well. They build their courts on rugged slopes of rocky and uneven terrain.
The birds feed mainly on fruits, but also feed on animal matter (notably insects, reptiles, and amphibians), and possibly take nectar and flowers. They mainly feed solitarily, but may also feed in mixed-species congregations.
The courtship display of the male is very unique in its family. It typically takes place on a sapling standing up from the ground. He commonly tends to his court and makes sure it stays clean and clear of fallen debris. When a female attends his court, he is usually on his display perch. Here is where he does his display; he leans backwards to point where his body is perpendicular to the sapling, raises his mantle cape, to where it appears like a yellow halo behind his head, expands and flexes his iridescent breast shield, and waggles his sickle-shaped tail on each side. Though this performance is comical, it is often observed by many females nearby, who do not take the male mating with the core audience member too lightly. When the male is about to copulate the core female, other females nearby will spring from their perches to attack and shoe off the female, and the male is discouraged and may have to wait a while to perform again.
Typical of most of the bird-of-paradise family, the female takes up all parental duties, including nest-building, incubation, and chick-rearing. They lay one to two creamy yellow eggs, and incubation usually concludes within 19 days, and the chicks usually fledge in 18 days.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...