The greater lophorina, superb-bird-of-paradise, or greater superb bird-of-paradise is a species of the Paradisaeidae family. It was considered the sole species in the genus until in 2017 it was recognised that there were three species.
Description
It is a small, approximately 26 cm long, bird. The male is black with an iridescent green crown, blue-green breast cover and a long velvety black erectile cape covering his back. The female is a reddish-brown bird with brownish barred buff below. The young is similar to the female. The greater lophorina is a dimorphic species. .
Courtship display
The species has an unusually low population of females, and competition amongst males for mates is intensely fierce. This has led the species to have one of the most elaborate courtship displays in the avian world. After carefully and meticulously preparing a "dance floor", the male first attracts a female with a loud call. After the curious female approaches, his folded black feather cape and blue-green breast shield springs upward and spreads widely and symmetrically around his head, instantly transforming the frontal view of the male bird into a spectacular ellipse-shaped creature that rhythmically snaps his tail feathers against each other, similar to how snapping fingers work, whilst hopping in frantic circles around the female. The average female rejects 15-20 potential suitors before consenting to mate. The show that males put on to attract females can be a long process that takes up many hours in a day. These species are polygynous and usually will mate with more than one female.
Distribution and habitat
The greater lophorina is distributed throughout rain forests of New Guinea. It inhabits most commonly in rain forests or forest edges of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. They can also be found inhabiting mountainous habitats of the forests in New Guinea. The greater lophorina is also usually found on top of the trees that reside in the rain forests.
The greater lophorina travels across the trees in the forest to catch its prey which can vary depending on seasonal availability of food. The greater lophorina has not only been known to eat fruits and insects, but also have been spotted preying on larger animals such as frogs, reptiles, and other small birds. They can sometimes be seen foraging food on the grounds of the forest for insects.
Predators
Known predators of the superb bird-of-paradise include birds of prey and snakes.
Reproduction and chick behavior
The greater lophorina forms their nest on top of trees using soft material that they find around the forest such as leaves. When reproducing, they usually produce from 1-3 eggs within a nest. It takes about 16–22 days for the eggs to hatch and for the chicks to be born. After that, chicks will be able to live on their own within 16–30 days, leaving their nest and becoming independent. Male superb bird's-of-paradise tend to take about two years longer for them to mature compared to the females. Also, it will take about 4–7 years for males to develop their feathers for their courtship displays.
Lophorina superba connectens- considered a synonym of L. s. latipennis.
Lophorina superba feminina
Lophorina superba latipennis
Lophorina superba pseudoparotia- now found to be a hybrid between present species and Parotia carolae.
Lophorina superba sphinx- validity disputed; not enough information provided to prove this as a separate subspecies.
Lophorina superba superba
Lophorina superba minor- generally considered a subspecies to present species; specific level is greatly disputed.
The crescent-caped lophorina was considered to be a subspecies until 2018, as was lesser lophorina, though minor is disputed as a full species and is generally considered conspecific with present species.
