Lesser Bird-of-paradise
The males strut to seduce the females
The lesser bird-of-paradise has a vast territory, mainly inhabiting the primary rainforests that cover low-lying wetlands and hills.
The male is about 30 cm long, including its tail feathers, and has a sumptuous brown plumage with an emerald-green throat and a yellow head and neck. Its long flank plumes are light and filament-like, yellow at the base and fading outwards to white.
The lesser bird-of-paradise carries out its courtship display in the tree tops, choosing an open, leaf-free space known as a “lek”. The males strut to seduce the females, calling, hopping and shaking their spread wings, while opening their slender yellow and white flank feathers in a quivering bouquet.
The female checks out her suitors and finally chooses one to mate with. Their nests have only rarely been observed, but they consist of large twigs, sticks and bark and are built in tree forks high above the ground. The female lays one or two pinkish eggs and incubates them for about 18 days. The chicks grow quickly and leave the nest after just three weeks.
Two Lesser Birds-of-paradise
Discover the Lesser Birds-of-paradise in our “Jardin des Mondes”.
A less threatened species
- Name: Lesser Bird-of-paradise
- Latin name: Paradisaea minor
- Origin: Western and northern New Guinea and some neighbouring islands to the West
- IUCN status: Least concerned
- Cites: Appendix II