Profile
In flight
Birds of Paradise
Raggiana Bird-of-paradise
Paradisaea raggiana
- epic
- 40 km/h
- Least Concern
Papua New Guinea's national bird, on its flag. Males parade red-to-orange plumes at communal lek trees most of the year.
- Population
- Unknown/not quantified; described as common, with a decreasing population trend due to habitat loss and hunting pressure
- Habitat
- Lowland tropical moist forest, also montane forest, degraded former forest, and rural gardens
- Fun fact
- The Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise is the national bird of Papua New Guinea, appearing on its national flag and coat of arms since 1971, and males gather in leks 30-100 meters wide to perform displays raising their ornamental orange-red flank plumes into a shimmering fan.
- Range
- Southern and northeastern New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and Indonesia); extent of occurrence ~425,000 km²
- Diet
- Omnivorous — primarily fruit, supplemented with arthropods; an important seed disperser for forest trees (e.g. mahogany, nutmeg)
- Size
- 0.34 m
- Lifespan
- 20 years
