King Bird-of-paradise

Overview

The king bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus regius) is a passerine bird belonging to the Paradisaeidae family, widely regarded as the smallest and most vividly coloured among birds-of-paradise. It is a common and wide-ranging species distributed throughout the lowland forests of New Guinea and its surrounding islands.

Identification

• Adult males possess a metallic crimson overall plumage that appears slightly orange under certain lights, with a narrow dark green iridescent breast band and whitish lower breast.
• Shoulder features include green-tipped fan-like plumes, while undertail and mantle feathers are olive-brown with iridescent green tips.
• Measures approximately 16–19 cm in length, extending to 31 cm when central rectrices of adult males are included.
• Exhibits an ivory-yellow bill and distinctive violet legs.

Habitat

This species inhabits mostly lowland rainforests, gallery forests, forest edges, and disturbed or tall secondary forests across the majority of New Guinea's mainland and surrounding islands such as Aru, Salawati, Missol, and Yapen. Some populations extend into higher hill and lower mountain regions, though these are poorly documented.

Diet

The diet consists mainly of fruits and arthropods. Foraging occurs at all levels of the forest, with individuals often joining mixed-species foraging flocks to seek arthropods in the lower forest strata.

Did you know?

Unlike most other birds-of-paradise, this species builds its open cup nest within a tree cavity. Males perform extraordinary courtship displays that involve hanging fully inverted and swinging pendulum-like, while fluffing their white abdominal feathers to resemble a cotton ball.