King bird-of-paradise

A jewel of the forest

The king bird-of-paradise is regarded as the smallest of the birds-of-paradise, with a body barely fifteen centimetres long and a weight of about 50 grams.

(Note: the mass value given by Wikidata, 53.1 kg, is plainly wrong for a bird of this size; its true weight is only around fifty grams.)

The male is an intense crimson red on the back and head, with a white belly and striking emerald feather fans on the sides of the breast. From the tail spring two very long bare wires that curl at the tips into two discs of brilliant metallic green. The female, far plainer, is brownish and cryptic.

Habitat and distribution

It lives in the lowland forests of New Guinea and some nearby islands. It frequents the mid and lower levels of the vegetation, where it moves nimbly through the branches in search of food.

Behaviour and courtship

It feeds mainly on fruit and arthropods. The male performs an extraordinary courtship: he puffs out the breast feathers into two emerald fans, swings the tail discs like pendulums and even displays upside down, hanging head-down from a branch while vibrating his wings. Each male defends its own stage among the branches to attract females.

Curiosities

The green discs at the ends of the tail wires are in fact feathers coiled upon themselves, catching the light with a metallic sheen. Birds-of-paradise fascinated European explorers for centuries, who received skins with the legs removed and believed these birds never landed on the ground.

Conservation

The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern: it has a very large range and populations thought to be stable. Habitat loss nonetheless remains a potential long-term threat.