Astrapia Birds-of-Paradise: Characteristics, Behavior and Reproduction | Sea Life, Islands and Oceania

ASTRAPIA BIRDS-OF-PARADISE

Princess Stephanie's astrapia

Astrapia is a genus of birds-of-paradise with five species. They are endemic to New Guinea. Males are dark and have highly iridescent plumage and extraordinarily long tails. Females are duller and have shorter tails. Their displays have only rarely been observed but feature pivoting from side to side and waving or fanning their long tails. There are no pair bonds and males do not provide no parental care. [Source: Cornell Ornithology Lab]

Astrapia are fairly large and live in highland areas at elevation from 1,525 to 3500 meters (5,000 to 11,500 feet), mainly in the Volgelkop (the Bird’s Head of northwest New Guinea), the central ranges and the Huon Peninsula in eastern New Guinea. Of the five species, three — Arfak astrapia (Astrapia nigra), Splendid astrapia (Astrapia splendidissima) and Huon astrapia (Astrapia rothschildi) — are allopatric (found in in separate non-overlapping geographical areas) The other two — Ribbon-tailed astrapia (Astrapia mayeri) and Princess Stephanie's astrapia (Astrapia stephaniae) —overlap with each other at the margins of their respective elevation ranges in a small portion of Papua New Guinea's central highlands.

The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek astrapios or astrapaios meaning "of lightning". In isolated populations, Astrapia bird-of-paradise males have evolved very different kinds of tails, presumably to suit female’s tastes. In the west and east of New Guinea the tails are long, broad and purple. The males in one community in the interior have purple and white thermometer-shaped tails. Another community has two long white tails. [Source: Wikipedia

Astrapias often associate with long-tailed sicklebills. The genuses of birds-of-paradise are superficially similar but astrapias have a short, straight bill and blunt-tipped tail and sicklebills have long, decurved, sickle-shaped bill. The wings of the male astrapia hiss in flight.

Astrapia Breeding Behavior

All species of Astrapia are thought to be polygamous, with promiscuous males performing displays in trees and females taking of all parental duties. Common traits among all five species include forms of hoping back and forth between branches. The Huon astrapia employs an inverted display posture. Princess Stephanie's astrapia form leks (male groups) that use the same display tree year after year.

Ribbon-tailed astrapia

Seven distinct male courtship displays have been documented: 1) perch-hopping, 2) pivoting, 3) inverted tail-fanning, 4) nape-pecking, 5) post-copulatory tumbling, 6) upright sleeked posturing and 7) branch-sidling. Of these, perch-hopping is the most broadly distributed among all species but Arfak astrapia. When displaying, all of them move quickly between multiple branches by hopping or making short flight-hops. Among Huon astrapia, hopping between perches sometimes is accompanied by chasing females.

Ribbon-tailed astrapia and Huon astrapia engage in a type of pivot display that involves repeatedly moving in a ritualized fashion from side-to-side with the feet in a more-or-less firmly, fixed position. The most distinctive feature of the Ribbon-tailed astrapia are a very ritualized hunchbacked posture and highly exaggerated swishing movement of the male's long ribbon-like while the most distinctive feature of Huon astrapia’s pivot is wing flicking.

Arfak astrapia and Huon astrapia have distinctive and specialized display behavior, which is called the “inverted tail-fan display”. When the abdominal feathers are sky-oriented during the display, their green iridescent feathers (that would appear otherwise dark) become highly visible. Splendid astrapia have very iridescent green abdominal plumage, which suggests they too have inverted display behavior that thus far is undocumented.

Astrapia Species

Princess Stephanie's astrapia (Astrapia stephaniae) are also known as Stephanie's astrapia. Endemic to the mountain forests of central and eastern Papua New Guinea, they are common enough throughout their range that they are listed as a species of Least Concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they are in Appendix II, which lists species not necessarily threatened with extinction now but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled. Hybrids between this species and the ribbon-tailed astrapia, in the small area where their ranges overlap, have been named Barnes's astrapia.

Male Princess Stephanie's astrapia reach around 84 centimeters (33 inches) in length, with much of that length coming from the long, 47-centimeter (18-inch), glossy, black central tail feathers. The upper head of the male is an iridescent greenish-blue, shading to indigo blue in the back; the chin to the upper breast section is an iridescent aqua to greenish-blue, though the throat area is usually a dark, shaded tint depending on the angle of view. Below the iridescent upper breast section, dense, black feathers lie beneath it, and underneath the dense feathers lies a narrow, iridescent, coppery-red to orange-reddish band

Huon astrapia (Astrapia rothschildi) are medium-sized, approximately 69 centimeters long. Males have black plumage with a glossy blue crown, dark olive-green back, an iridescent purple-green elongated nape feathers, and a very long and broad purplish black tail. Females are smaller and have blackish-brown plumage with pale barring on their abdomen.Their scientific name commemorates the British ornithologist Walter Rothschild. Their common name comes from the Huon Peninsula where they live.

Huon astrapia are endemic to the mountain forests of Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. Their diet consists mainly of fruits and seeds Otherwise little is known about them. Fairly common in their restricted range, they have been designated as a species of least concern on the IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. In CITES they are in Appendix II.

Splendid astrapia (Astrapia splendidissima) are medium-sized birds-of-paradise. Males are approximately 39 centimeters long, with iridescent yellow-green mantle, blue-green throat, dark green below and short, broad and black-tipped white tail feathers. Female have brown plumage and a dark head. Little is known about them. They live in the mountain forests in the western part of the central highlands of New Guinea. Their diet consists mainly of fruit, insects, lizards and frogs and they are widespread and common enough in their relatively large range that they are classified as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Arfak Astrapia

Arfak astrapia (Astrapia nigra) are large birds-of-paradise. Endemic to the Arfak Mountains in Vogelkop Peninsula, West Papua, they are black, with iridescent purple, green and bronze plumage. Males have a very long broad tail, velvety black breast feathers and extremely complex head plumage, with blue to purple velvety feathers that often appears black and cheeks with blue highlights. The nape to mantle cape is yellowish-green, the upper breast is dense velvety black with bordered iridescent coppery bronze, and the upper wings and huge graduated tail are black with purple iridescent sheen. Females have a black head. The remainder of their plumage is drab blackish brown, with iridescent blue sheen on the nape

Males are approximately 76 centimeters long, including their tail feathers, and females are 50 centimeters long. Their diet consists mainly of pandanus fruits. Males display upside down but it is not clear whether they display solitarily or in leks. The breeding season could be year year round; juveniles have been observed in July and August.

Arfak astrapia are not endangered in a large part because of the remote area where they live and their relatively undisturbed forest home. They are classified as a species of Least Concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they are in Appendix II, which lists species not necessarily threatened with extinction now but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled. /=\

Levaillant of France described Arfak astrapia as the Incomparable bird-of-paradise. In the wild, they have hybridized with the black sicklebill creating offspring that were for a long time considered a distinct species, the elliot's sicklebill (Epimachus ellioti). Some ornithologists still regard this bird a a distinct species, possibly critically endangered or even extinct.

Ribbon-Tailed Astrapia

Ribbon-tailed astrapia (Astrapia mayeri) are one of the most spectacular birds-of-paradise. Males have the longest tail feathers in relation to body size of any bird — over three times the length of their body and sometimes reaching one meter in length.

Ribbon-tailed astrapia are also known as Shaw Mayer's astrapia. Among the most recently discovered bird-of-paradise, they are endemic to subalpine forests in western part of the central highlands of Papua New Guinea. The scientific name commemorates the great naturalist and New Guinea explorer Fred Shaw Mayer, who was believed to have discovered the bird in 1938. Recently it has been revealed that explorer Jack Hides probably discovered the species while Mayer became interested in it later. [Source: Wikipedia]

Due to habitat loss and being hunted for their plumes, Ribbon-tailed Astrapia are classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they are in Appendix II. The long tails of male birds contributes to their vulnerability as they make it ancient for them to escape natural predators.

Ribbon-tailed astrapia are medium-sized birds, averaging 32 centimeters long, including the tails of the males, which can be over one meter long. Males ribbon-tailed astrapia are generally around 125 centimeters and are around 35 centimeters when their tails are included. Males have a velvet black body, with iridescent olive green and bronze plumage. They are adorned with ornamental "ball" plume above their bill and two extremely long, ribbon-like white tail feathers. Females have a much duller brown and black body with an iridescent head. Unlike males, females do not have the long white tails. Like many other ornamental birds-of-paradise, males are polygamous. Hybrids between Ribbon-tailed astrapia and Princess Stephanie's astrapia havee been documented and named Barnes's astrapia. The ranges of the two speciies overlap.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated February 2025