photo: Tim Laman
photo: Tim Laman
photo: Tim Laman
photo: Carl Bento/Australian Museum
Habitat: endemic to montane forest in New Guinea
Status: Least Concern
The King of Saxony Bird of Paradise (Pteridophora alberti) is one of those creatures that just take your breath away. An adult bird is around 22 cm long with two incredibly long (up to 50 cm) scalloped, enamel-blue brow-plumes that the bird can raise and lower on a whim. It had such a bizarre appearance to explorers that when the first specimen was brought back to Europe it was believed to be fake!
The adult males are very territorial and will perch on top of tall trees, singing loudly to compete with other males in neighboring territories. The sound it makes it anything but bird-like, though. It resembles a screeching/clicking beetle or something! Here, take a look and listen for yourself:
