Birds-of-paradise

Paradisaeidae

Taxonomy Version: IOC 10.2
family
Taxonomy Ranking
Level Rank Scientific Name

Best known for the stunning plumages and displays of the males, birds-of-paradise are found only in Indonesia, New Guinea and eastern Australia. Most are birds of tropical wet forests. They are fairly variable in size and shape, some having  fine, curved bills, others having strong crow-like bills. These differences reflect diet preferences: some feed almost exclusive on tender fruits but many are omnivorous. As well as the named birds-of-paradise (of which there are several genera), the family includes the manucodes (Manucodia), paradigallas (Paradigalla), astrapias (Astrapia), parotias (Parotia), riflebirds (Ptiloris), sicklebills (Epimachus and Drepanornis), Paradise-crow (Lycocorax pyrrhopterus) and Standardwing (Semioptera wallacii).

  • Short-tailed Paradigalla - Papua New Guinea © Bill Plumb

  • Magnificent Bird-of-paradise - Papua New Guinea © Szabolcs Kókay

Select Genus
Scientific Name English Name Rank Rarity (UK) Image
British & Irish Records Archive

All Records (Accepted, Rejected, Pending). To filter/search please enter a phrase. E.g. To filter Rejected records, type Rejected into the Search box, all columns can be filtered.

British & Irish Records Archive is only available to our BirdGuides Ultimate or our BirdGuides Pro subscribers.
Please login or subscribe to view this information.