Lesser Bird-of-Paradise

Male
Photo by mehdhalaouate
Genyem, Irian Jaya, May 2001

Alternative name: Little Emerald Bird-of-Paradise

Paradisaea minor

Identification

32cm (excluding tail wires).

Male

• Emerald-green lores, forehead, ear-coverts, malar area, chin and throat
• Pale orangy-yellow rest of head
• Yellow extending onto nape and mantle, blending into mid-brown of back and wing
• Orangy-yellow shoulder bar
• Pale brown tail with two grossly elongated central feathers, forming two wires
• Grossly elongated filamental flank plumes yellow at base, fading to dirty white. Almost as long as wires
• Dark maroon-brown breast and underparts
• Yellow eye
• Bluish-grey bill
• Pinkish-flesh mouth

Female
Photo by mehdhalaouate
Yapen, Papua, March 2005

Female

• Dark brown head grading to paler buff on nape and mantle
• Mid-brown to dark brown remaining upperparts
• Dark brown throat
• White rest of underparts with pinkish brown wash

Juveniles undescribed. Immature males similar to females.

Distribution

Found in western and northern New Guinea and on Yapen and Misool Island.
Still common in parts of its range.

Displaying male
Photo by mehdhalaouate
Yapen, Papua, March 2005

Taxonomy

Three subspecies are recognized:

• P. m. minor on Misool (West Papuan Islands) and western New Guinea east to the boarder to Papua New Guinea
• P. m. jobiensis on Yapen Island in Geelvink Bay, northwest New Guinea
• P. m. finschi in northern New Guinea from the boarder east to Gogol and upper Ramu River

May form a superspecies with Greater Bird-of-paradise, Raggiana Bird-of-paradise, Goldie's Bird-of-paradise and Red Bird-of-paradise.
Hybrids with Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise, Emperor Bird-of-Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird, Magnificent Bird-of-Paradise and Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise recorded.

Habitat

Lowland and hill forest. Also in second growth, on forest edge and swamp-forest. Occurs from sea-level up to 1550m.

Behaviour

Feeds mostly on fruits, takes also arthropods.
Forages also in mixes-species flocks with other Birds-of-Paradise or in flocks of New Guinea Babbler.
Breeding season at least from July to February. A polygynous species. Up to twelve males form a lek in a tree (or some trees). The defioliate the trees. If a female arrive the males start to display. Several static postures and a dance are part of the courtship.
The female builds and attends the nest alone. The nest is a bulky open cup made of twigs, sticks, vines and dead leaves. It's placed in a tree. Lays 1 - 2 eggs with dark markings.
Presumably a resident species.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Lesser Bird-of-Paradise. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Lesser_Bird-of-Paradise

External Links

Search for photos of Lesser Bird-of-Paradise in the gallery