Western Parotia
Encyclopedia
The Western or Arfak Parotia, Parotia sefilata, is a medium-sized, approximately 33 cm long, bird of paradise with a medium-length tail. The male has black plumage with an iridescent golden-green breast shield and triangular silver feathers on its crown. It is adorned with an elongated black plumes at the sides of the breast and three erectile spatula
te head wires behind each eye. As with most member in the family, the female is unadorned and has brown plumage.
Endemic
to Indonesia
, the Western Parotia is found only in the mountain forests of Vogelkop and Wandammen Peninsula of Western New Guinea
. The diet consists mainly of fruits and figs.
In courtship display, the male performs a ballerina
-like dance with its elongated black plumes spread around skirt
-like, right below the iridescence breast shield. During the spectacular dance, he shakes his head and neck rapidly to show the brilliance of his inverted silver triangle
-shaped head adornment to attending females.
A widespread and common species throughout its range, the Western Parotia is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.
Spatula
The term spatula is used to refer to various small implements with a broad, flat, flexible blade used to mix, spread and lift materials including foods, drugs, plaster and paints...
te head wires behind each eye. As with most member in the family, the female is unadorned and has brown plumage.
Endemic
Endemism in birds
An endemic bird area is a region of the world that contains two or more restricted-range species, while a "secondary area" contains one or more restricted-range species. Both terms were devised by Birdlife International....
to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, the Western Parotia is found only in the mountain forests of Vogelkop and Wandammen Peninsula of Western New Guinea
Western New Guinea
West Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...
. The diet consists mainly of fruits and figs.
In courtship display, the male performs a ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
-like dance with its elongated black plumes spread around skirt
Skirt
A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.In the western world, skirts are usually considered women's clothing. However, there are exceptions...
-like, right below the iridescence breast shield. During the spectacular dance, he shakes his head and neck rapidly to show the brilliance of his inverted silver triangle
Triangle
A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
-shaped head adornment to attending females.
A widespread and common species throughout its range, the Western Parotia is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES.