What family do birds of paradise belong to?
Q: What family do birds of paradise belong to?
A: Birds of paradise belong to the family Paradisaeidae.
Q: Where do they live?
A: They live in eastern Indonesia, Maluku, Papua New Guinea, Torres Strait Islands, and eastern Australia.
Q: What materials are used to build their nests?
A: They build their nests from soft materials such as leaves, ferns, and vine monsters.
Q: How does sexual selection work for birds of paradise?
A: Females choose males who they instinctively see are fine specimens of their species based on the colours of the plumage, the construction of the nest, the song and the mating dance.
Q: Are birds of paradise monogamous or polygamous?
A: Some species are monogamous while others are polygamous. If they are monogamous then males look much like females whereas if they are polygamous then males are much flashier than females. In both cases it is the female who makes the choice of partner.
Q: What is causing a reduction in some species populations?
A: Hunting for plumes and habitat destruction have reduced some species to endangered status with habitat destruction due to deforestation now being seen as a main threat.
Q: How big can birds of paradise be?
A: Birds of paradise range in size from 3 grams (1.8 oz) and 15 cm (6 in) for king bird-of-paradise up to 110 cm (43 in) for black sicklebill and 430 grams (15.2 oz) for curl-crested manucode.
