———(1988) “Lek Behavior of the Raggiana Bird of Paradise.”
*Bourke, P. A., and A. F. Austin (1947) “The Atherton Tablelands and Its Avifauna.”
Davis, W. E., Jr., and B. M. Beehler (1994) “Nesting Behavior of a Raggiana Bird of Paradise.”
*Frith, C. B. (1997) Personal communication.
———(1981) “Displays of Count Raggi’s Bird-of-Paradise
*Frith, C. B., and W. T. Cooper (1996) “Courtship Display and Mating of Victoria’s Riflebird
Frith, C. B., and D. W. Frith (1995) “Notes on the Nesting Biology and Diet of Victoria’s Riflebird
Gilliard, E. T. (1969) “Queen Victoria Rifle Bird” and “Count Raggi’s Bird of Paradise.” In
Lecroy, M. (1981) “The Genus
*Mackay, M. (1981) “Display Behavior by Female Birds of Paradise in Captivity.”
IDENTIFICATION: A thrush-sized bird (12 inches) with velvety black plumage and brilliant golden yellow crown, nape, upper back, and wing feathers. DISTRIBUTION: East-central Australia. HABITAT: Humid forests. STUDY AREA: Sarabah Range, Queensland, Australia.
Social Organization
Regent Bowerbirds have a polygamous or promiscuous mating system: males court and mate with multiple partners on display territories (see below). Following the mating season birds often associate in cosexual flocks of 10—20 individuals.
Description
Juvenile males also build bowers and court both males and females. In some cases, they use the same bower shapes and displays as adults, but in other cases they utilize their own patterns, some of which may be unique to same-sex interactions. Some bowers built by younger males are more in the form of a horseshoe—open only at one end—with the sticks woven horizontally rather than vertically. When courtship-displaying to an adult male, the younger male enters the bower and squats with his tail toward the entrance. The adult male then rushes toward the juvenile, who is behind the closed end of the bower, or sometimes goes around to the entrance and tweaks the younger male’s tail. When courting other juvenile birds of both sexes, young males may perform a dance in the center of the bower, picking up an ornament and bobbing up and down with half-opened wings, then tossing the object over the bower wall. The bird(s) watching this display sweep and brush the ground with their wings.
Many younger males are transvestite, having a plumage coloration that more closely resembles that of adult females than adult males. It takes males up to seven years to develop the full yellow, orange, and black feathers typical of adult males, and during that time many actually exhibit plumages that are intermediate between the adult male and female patterns.
Nonreproductive and Alternative Heterosexualities
A large segment of the male Regent Bowerbird population is nonbreeding: only about a third of all adult males maintain bowers, and of those that do, only a fraction actually mate with females. In addition, heterosexual courtship interactions rarely result in copulation: in only about 7 percent of female visits to bowers does mating actually take place, since the female often leaves while the male is displaying (and in 10 percent of female visits the male does not display at all).
Other Species
Adult male Satin Bowerbirds (
Chaffer, N. (1932) “The Regent Bird.”
*Gilliard, E. T. (1969) “Australian Regent Bower Bird.” In
Goddard, M. T. (1947) “Bower-Painting by the Regent Bower-bird.”
*Lenz, N. (1994) “Mating Behavior and Sexual Competition in the Regent Bowerbird
*Marshall, A. J. (1954) “Satin Bower-bird,
*Phillipps, R. (1905) “The Regent Bird (
Plomley, K. F. (1935) “Bower of the Regent Bower-bird.”