Ribbon Tailed Astrapia

Eliza Morales

The Ribbon Tailed Astrapia is one of the medium sized Bird of Paradise. It is up to 32cm (1 foot) long (without the tail) and the male birds have magnificent long tail feathers, hence the name. Out of all discovered birds, it has the longest tail in comparison to its body. The difference between the male and female is that the male has an iridescent olive green and bronze plumage (feathers) and the long white tail feathers and the female is a brown bird with an iridescent head and shorter, brown tail feathers. The tail is actually a nuisance for their survival since it can get easily stuck in branches and need grooming but it helps the males attract females to mate. The Ribbon Tailed Astrapias natural habitat is Papua New Guinea. Its scientific name is Astrapia mayeri and their conservation status is Near Threatened because it is locally hunted for its tail plumes and its natural habitat is suffering from logging and deforestation.

Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribbon-tailed_Astrapia http://australianmuseum.net.au/Ribbon-tailed-Astrapia http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=5835 http://birdsofparadiseproject.org/content.php?page=78