The
Raggiana Bird-of-paradise, (
Paradisaea raggiana) also known as
Count Raggi's Bird-of-paradise, is a large bird in the
bird-of-paradise family Paradisaeidae.
It is distributed widely in southern and northeastern
New Guinea, where its name is
kumul. It is also known as
cenderawasih. As requested by Count
Luigi Maria D'Albertis, the epithet
raggiana commemorates the
Marquis Francis Raggi of
Genoa.
The Raggiana Bird-of-paradise is the
national bird of
Papua New Guinea; indeed in 1971 this species, as
Gerrus paradisaea, was made the national emblem and was included on the
national flag. '
The Kumuls' is also the nickname of the country's national
rugby league team.
Description
It is 34 cm long, maroon-brown with a greyish-blue
bill, yellow
iris and greyish-brown feet. The male has a yellow crown, dark emerald-green throat and yellow collar between the throat and its blackish upper breast feathers. It is adorned with a pair of long black tail wires and large flank plumes. The female is a comparatively drab maroonish-brown bird with no long tail feathers. The ornamental flank plumes vary from red to orange in color, depending on
subspecies. The nominate subspecies,
P. r. raggiana, has the deepest red plumes, while the subspecies
P. r. augustavictoriae of northeast
New Guinea, also known as the
Empress of Germany's Bird-of-paradise, has apricot-orange plumes.
Behaviour
Diet
Its diet consists mainly of fruits and
arthropods....
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