A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Ptiloris victoriae
Adults, 23 cm. Adult males jet black with iridescent greenish blue crown and breast shield, underparts with bronze-yellow sheen and central pair of tail feather greenish blue. Female greyish brown above, with narrow pale line above eye and underparts rich cinnamon with small dark chevrons.
Rainforest
Diet: Small animals, including insects, insect larvae and spiders, and fruit. Courtship Polygymous. Solitary male displays and sings at traditional perches, defending these sites from other males each season (July-December). Courtship begins with static posture, which develops into several movements and postures. Twisting wings and swinging head, male moves towards female and claps wings aggressively, encircling and almost hitting her with wings. Breeding: Breeding occurs least August-February. Only female builds and attends to nest, which is built 20 m from ground, in new foliage atop broken tree stump or branch. Incubation 18-19 days; nestling period of 13-15 days. No known hybridisation; does not share habitat with any other bird of paradise.
12 Comments
Thanks to all for your comments on this spotting.
Congratulations on SOTD! That 3rd shot is fantastic!
Great Spotting .. Congrats :)
Congrats on your SOTD Mark.
Well deserved! Congrats.
Congratulations Mark.
Congratulations Mark, your Victoria’s Riflebird is our Spotting of the Day. Nice to have you back!
"A male Victoria’s Riflebird (Ptiloris victoriae) shows off his blue-green iridescent throat patch in our Spotting of the Day! This species of bird-of-paradise is endemic to the Atherton Tableland region of northeastern Queensland, Australia. Birds-of-paradise (family Paradisaeidae) are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Australia. The majority of birds-of-paradise are sexually dimorphic, with the males showing spectacular plumage. Most species of birds-of-paradise have elaborate mating rituals".
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/pho...
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/9...
Wow! Fantastic spotting!
awesome spotting Mark,i love these birds,congrats and thanks or sharing
So beautiful!!!
I wasn't ready for that last shot. Stunning. Great stuff Mark.
Great images as always Mark. That third one is a cracker!