Epimachus
Encyclopedia
Epimachus is a genus of birds of paradise from highland forests in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

. They have long decurved sickle
Sickle
A sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock . Sickles have also been used as weapons, either in their original form or in various derivations.The diversity of sickles that...

-like bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...

s and long tails. Males of both species have extensive iridescent blackish to their plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...

, while females are overall brown with barred underparts. The two members of the genus Drepanornis
Drepanornis
Drepanornis is a genus of bird-of-paradise found in forests of New Guinea. They have long decurved sickle-like bills and an overall brown plumage...

are sometimes included in Epimachus, but their tail is far shorter and their sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...

 is less extreme.

Species

  • Black Sicklebill
    Black Sicklebill
    The Black Sicklebill, Epimachus fastuosus, is a large bird of paradise of midmountain forests of New Guinea. The male has black plumage with an iridescent green, blue and purple scale-like feathers, red iris, bright yellow mouth, long curved black bill, huge sabre-shaped tail and large erectile...

    , Epimachus fastuosus
  • Brown Sicklebill
    Brown Sicklebill
    The Brown Sickbill, Epimachus meyeri is a large, up to 96 cm long, dark blue and green bird-of-paradise with highly iridescent plumages, a sickle-shaped bill, pale blue iris and brown underparts. The male is adorned with ornamental plumes on the sides of its rear and a huge sabre-shaped...

    , Epimachus meyeri
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