Barnes’ Astrapia, also known as Barnes’ Long-tailed Bird of Paradise or Barnes’s Long-tail, is a bird in the family Paradisaeidae and the genus Astrapia that is a hybrid between a Stephanie’s Astrapia (Astrapia stephaniae) and Ribbon-tailed Astrapia (Astrapia mayeri).
Description
It is similar in appearance to both parent species, though closer to a Ribbon-tailed Astrapia. Males have two very long white and black tail feathers, a glossy blue head and neck, a small beak and a black body. Females have fewer blue feathers on their heads as well as shorter tails.
History
Until 1930, Barnes’ Astrapia (and all the other hybrid birds of paradise) were thought to be species and were named as such. Barnes’ Astrapia was classified as Astrarchia barnesi Iredale, in 1948.
Distribution
It lives in the mountain forest of Papua New Guinea, where the ranges of the parent species overlap on a small part of the Hagen Range and Mount Giluwe, usually at 2,400 – 2,600 m asl (Above mean sea level).
Notes
- Iredale (1948).
References
- Iredale, Tom (1948). “A checklist of the birds of paradise and bowerbirds”. Australian Zoologist 11: 161-189.
- Peckover, William S. (1990). Papua New Guinea, Birds of Paradise. Brown: Carina.
- IUCN Red List
Birds of Paradise … Bird of Paradise Photo Gallery
