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  Profile

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  In flight

Tropical Birds

Standardwing Bird-of-paradise

Semioptera wallacii

• legendary
• 32 km/h
• Least Concern

Males raise two long white 'flags' off each wing and dance in mid-air. Wallace himself was the first to describe it.

Population

Number of mature individuals unquantified; not believed to approach Vulnerable population thresholds (i.e., likely >10,000 mature individuals and/or decline <10%/10yr-3gen); population trend decreasing (IUCN assessment, 1 Oct 2017; BirdLife DataZone)

Habitat

Lowland tropical rainforest and hills, occasionally in secondary/edge woodland

Fun fact

Male Standardwings display two pairs of long white "standard" plumes at the bend of each wing, which they can raise and flutter independently of the wing itself during parachuting courtship displays performed communally at leks — per David Attenborough's account, the display appears aimed more at establishing male hierarchy for breeding rights than directly impressing females — the trait that gives the species (and its monotypic genus Semioptera) its name.

Range

Endemic to Northern Maluku, eastern Indonesia — restricted to the islands of Halmahera and Bacan; the westernmost-occurring true bird-of-paradise species

Diet

Mainly insects and other arthropods, supplemented with fruit

Size

0.28 m