The Western Parotias or Arfak Parotia, Parotia sefilata, is a medium-sized, approximately 33cm long, bird of paradise with a medium-length tail.
The male has black plumage with an iridescent golden-green breast shield and triangular silver feathers on its crown. It is adorned with an elongated black plumes at the sides of the breast and three erectile spatulate head wires behind each eye.
As with most members of the family, the female is unadorned and has brown plumage.
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Distribution / Range
This species is endemic to Indonesia, the Western Parotia is found only in the mountain forests of Vogelkop and Wandammen Peninsula of Western New Guinea.
A widespread and common species throughout its range, the Western Parotia is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.
Breeding / Nesting
In courtship display, the male performs a ballerina-like dance with its elongated black plumes spread around skirt-like, right below the iridescence breast shield. During the spectacular dance, he shakes his head and neck rapidly to show the brilliance of his inverted silver triangle-shaped head adornment to attending females.
Diet / Feeding
The diet consists mainly of fruits and figs.
