The king bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus regius)
The king bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus regius) is a passerine bird of the Paradisaeidae (Bird-of-paradise) family. It is the only member of the genus Cicinnurus.
The king bird-of-paradise is a common and wide-ranging species, distributed throughout lowland forests of New Guinea and western satellite islands. Some populations range quite high into the hills and lower mountains, and these are poorly known as yet.
The first captive breeding of this species was by Sten Bergman of Sweden in 1958. He was awarded a commemorative medal by the Foreign Bird League to mark this achievement.
This so-called "living gem"is the smallest and most vividly colored among birds-of-paradise.The king bird-of-paradise is small, measuring approximately 6.3–7.5 inches (16–19 cm) long, but 12.2 inches (31 cm) if central rectrices of adult males included.Females weight about 0.08–0.13 pounds (36–59 g), males 0.10–0.14 pounds (45–64 g).
The adult male has a overall metallic crimson color, slightly orange under certain lights, and more particularly so in the crown. They have a narrow, dark green iridescent breast band with whitish lower breast, and green-tipped fan-like plumes on shoulder.The feathers of the undertail and mantle are olive-brown, with iridescent green tips, and violet legs. Bills are ivory-yellow. Females have dull olive head and upperparts with yellowish underparts and violet legs.
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28 April 2022
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